


The Incredible Family Solo

by rentasofa



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - The Incredibles (Pixar Movies) Fusion, Baby, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Secrets, Force Bond (Star Wars), Jedi Training, Jedi are Superheros, Lightsabers, Mental Breakdown, Order 66, clone wars references, sassy droid, teenage angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:47:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 40,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28548117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rentasofa/pseuds/rentasofa
Summary: Public opinion turns against the Jedi due to the collateral damage caused by their peace keeping efforts. After several lawsuits, the senate initiates Order 66, which forces the Jedi to permanently give up their lightsabers and retire.Fifteen years later, Rey and Ben Solo along with their children, twins Hanna and Luca and baby B.B, look like any other suburban family but they have a secret. They are strong with the force, a continuation of the mighty Skywalker line. However, their gifts are not seen in the same light as they once were. Ben is chaffing under the stain of a 9 to 5 office job in order to provide for his family, Hanna wishes she could be normal, Luca gets in trouble because he has no outlet for his powers and Rey, having got the family she didn't think she would have, just wants everyone to be happy.When a mysterious communication summons Ben to a mysterious remote island, he jumps at the chance to get back into action, though he comes to realise that it will take a family effort to rescue the world from total destruction.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 34
Kudos: 39





	1. Prologue Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> If you hadn't quite guessed, this fic is inspired by The Incredibles. I think they mash up quite well. I'm near the end of writing this and I thought that if I started posting it, it would give me the motivation to finish it. As it is quite long, there will be new chapters every Monday and Thursday.
> 
> Enjoy!

It was dark as always in the underworld of Coruscant. A perfect place for criminals to slip in and out without being noticed. The security forces were stretched too thin so in this part of town the crime families were left to police themselves unless something particularly big caught the government's attention, then the Jedi were called in.

Rey and Ben were crouched atop an abandoned warehouse overlooking a seemingly normal docking bay but they had information that there would be a large shipment of spice coming in tonight and they were there to stop it before it hit the streets.

Rey was starting to get restless. She was a padawan so close to taking her trials to become a full Jedi knight and she was desperate to prove herself in the field.

“You need to calm yourself Rey.” Ben said quietly. “You threaten to unbalance yourself.”

“I’m sorry Ben. It’s just this is the first time Mater Luke has sent me out on a proper mission.” She refused to call Ben master even though he was a full Jedi Knight and she was supposed to, it didn’t seem right somehow. It wasn’t like he was her master anyway.

“Not true. He sent you on the Sorka mission.”

“Escourting someone’s Tooka Cat on a long haul flight is not a mission.” Rey said playfully punching Ben’s arm as he laughed at her like he had done since she had come back to the temple and told him where she had been. “I can’t believe Master Luke even agreed to take the case. We are Jedi, defenders of peace and justice, not cat sitters.”

Before Ben could respond there was movement down below. Three large speeders pulled up with containers piled up on the back stamped with the seal of the Pyke Syndicate. Gang members emerged from the shadows to take care of the goods.

“Show time.” Ben whispered, now serious. They gave each other a nod confirming the plan they had already discussed at length and noiselessly jumped off the building landing neatly on top of the middle speeder, back to back.

“Good evening,” Ben said loudly and clearly to the assembled gang members. “We are members of the Jedi Order here on behalf of the Coruscant Government to put a stop to your little enterprise. You can either come quietly or -”

All the gang members pulled their blasters on them.

“It appears they don’t want to come quietly.” Rey said not even trying to hide her excitement as she reached for her double bladed lightsaber.

“It seems not.” Ben knew he should chastise her for looking forward to a fight but secretly he was as well.

“Incapacitate, don’t kill.” he muttered so only she could hear.

The blaster fire started as the blue blades ignited. Ben and Rey sank into the force to anticipate where the shots would come from and used their sabers to deflect them back the way they came.

They worked well together, always had done. Ever since Rey had come to the temple she’d had a connection with Ben through the force that Master Luke hadn’t seen before, one that wasn’t evident in any of the other students either. They were always aware of the other and fiercely protective, which was why Luke had sent them on this first mission together, to see what would happen to their bond in a high stakes environment.

Ben concentrated on destroying the blasters with deflected shots and giving the members of the syndicate non lethal injuries to stop them from running away. He also kept an eye on Rey to make sure she wasn’t going too far.

Even with the force it was easy to miss something that was going on. In all the confusion and blaster fire one of the Pykes had managed to get in one of the speeders and started to drive off, part of the spice shipment still loaded on the back.

“I’ll go after him, you stay here.” Rey shouted as she started running after the speeder. There were only half a dozen active shooters left, easy enough for Ben to handle on his own, and this was her chance to prove herself. If she caught the speeder and secured to spice shipment, Master Luke would see that she was more than ready to take the trails.

“Rey, wait.” Ben called after her but she was already gone down the alley that led out onto the main shopping district of the undercity.

Rey used the force to aid her running but with all the obstacles in the wide alley and the Pyke continuing to fire on her, she couldn’t quite catch up. The speeder emerged on the main thoroughfare sending people screaming and scrambling to get out of the way. It wasn’t among the pedestrians for long as it burst through the protective barrier, making for the traffic lanes above.

Rey came to a halt and looked around quickly for a solution. She grabbed a speeder bike from outside a dive bar and used her mechanical skills to hotwire it. The angry shouts of the owner barely stopped her as she took off in pursuit of her target.

“Sorry. Official Jedi business. I’ll bring it back later.” Rey shouted behind her, but much of it was lost to the wind.

The speeder bike wasn’t ideal for open air travel but Rey intended to catch up with the escaping speeder before it got to the busier traffic lanes.

The Pyke turned around and saw that she was still following him. Imagining his shock and surprise spurred Rey on. She wasn’t too far behind, almost close enough to jump off her borrowed speeder bike and onto the speeder when the criminal tossed a flashing sphere over the side landing it on the tracks of the elevated maglev train. It took Rey slightly too long to realise that it was an explosive and she was buffeted by the resulting explosion.

The fireball cleared to reveal a gaping hole in the track and had allowed her target to get further ahead.

Rey was about to push the engine as hard as it would go so she could catch up but she could see a train was approaching. It was a split second decision, she had to save the train.

She turned around and landed on the track a ways away from the broken track and took a deep breath to ready herself. Rey reached out with the force, lifted her arms and pushed with all her might into the oncoming train to slow it down. The speed and weight of the train pushed Rey backwards all the way to the edge of the gap, she started to panic that she would fall through, before it finally came to a stop.

Rey was strong in the force she knew this but the strain of holding back the train sent pain shooting up her arms and across her back and it was all she could do not to cry out.

The last of the syndicate members had been incapacitated when Ben felt a sudden phantom pain across his shoulders. He immediately got on his communicator.

“Rey, where are you?” he asked, running in the same direction she had.

“The train.” came her response, her pain coming through in her voice.

Ben came out onto the thoroughfare and saw what she had done. When the maglev train had come to a sudden stop mere feet from the hole blown in its tracks, its carriages had buckled one into the other. Shouts of panic could be heard all along the street and a rescue effort was being mounted not too far away.

He had to get to Rey, had to help her, he could feel the strain she was putting on herself to hold the train in place.

He quickly integrated himself with the rescue team, who were glad to have a Jedi helping them, but he sort of ended up taking charge. They needed to be quick, Rey wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.

When the rescue speeders were close enough to the crashed train, Ben hopped down onto the roof of the carriage and used the force to open the escape hatches that had been crumpled and damaged making the holes wider to allow the use of winches and harnesses to get people out.

A collective scream went up as the train lurched and metal groaned. The rescue workers had magnetic boots to keep them in place, Ben used the force to stay balanced as he made his way to the front of the train, to Rey.

When he got to her the strain was evident, there were tears rolling down her cheeks. This was too much for a padawan, even one as powerful as Rey.

“Ben.” she croaked when she saw him. He saw a brief flash of joy cross her face. “Are they… is everyone off?”

Ben looked back at the rescue effort. “Very nearly.” He jumped down onto the track beside her. “Here, let me help you.”

“No. I can’t let go not even a little bit.” she said in almost a sob. “Get ready to get out of here.”

He was about to argue that he was the Jedi Knight, he shouldn’t be letting a padawan take such risks, when the shout went up that the last passenger had been pulled out of the wreckage.

Ben got the speeder bike that Rey had acquired and hovered above her for a second before reaching down and pulling her out from in front of the train. As soon as the connection was broken, the train started moving again, going along the remainder of the track and ploughing through the hole and finally crashing into a building on the level below.

Rey slumped against Ben, her head against his shoulder, she barely had the strength to hold herself up so he had to hold her close so that she didn’t fall off the speeder bike. He allowed himself a moment to enjoy her closeness, her warm breath on his neck, the beating of her heart against his chest.

“He got away.” Rey murmured after a while. She had been enjoying the feeling of being held tightly by Ben’s big strong arms. How it made her heart flutter and stomach flip.

“It doesn’t matter Rey.” Ben said, his lips almost brushing her temple. “You did good today. You saved all those people on the train.”

“But the mission.” Rey started to say weakly but Ben gently shushed her. He looked at her with his deep brown eyes and her insides turned to jelly, but she knew she shouldn’t let them. She knew the Jedi rules about attachment.

“No one’s going to be too angry considering all the good you did.”


	2. Prologue Part 2

He was wrong. Everyone was angry.

The building that the train had crashed into was an apartment block due for demolition but there were still a few families yet to move out.

They only managed to pull two survivors out of the rumble, the Martez sisters. With their home and the rest of their family gone in an incident involving the Jedi, the two young girls became the poster children for the anti-Jedi movement, those who called for the Jedi to be held accountable for their actions.

Rey broke down at the inquest into the train crash. All the angry cries of the protesters, all the accusations got to her. They blamed her not only for the apartment block deaths but those on the train blamed her for the injuries they had received, and there were those who blamed her for letting the spice shipment get away.

Ben tried to take some of the blame, after all he was there too and the more senior of the two, but Rey still took the brunt of it.

After that more and more cases and accusations were brought against the Jedi; theft, injury, loss of livelihood, destruction of property. So many that the senate ordered the Jedi confined to their temple for their own safety while they went through the cases and came up with a solution.

Public opinion had turned. There were protesters outside the gates of the temple at all hours, they could hear them through the thick walls. Ben and the other Knights tried to keep some semblance of a routine to keep everyone calm, especially the younglings, but it was hard. Master Luke was crushed under the weight of his failure and locked himself in his meditation chamber, not to be disturbed.

Rey was not doing well at all. The day after the inquest she had sat outside on a meditation rock and cut off her Padawan braid with a knife. She was so aggressive that she nicked the skin and had a bald spot just behind her ear.

“Oh Rey, what have you done?” Finn asked when he’d found her in the garden. He was a Padawan too but slightly older than Rey and he didn’t want to admit it but he was a bit jealous that she would have done her trials before him.

“I don’t want to be a Jedi any more Finn.” she said with vacant eyes. She seemed empty, drained from continually crying over what she had done.

“You don’t mean that. Let me get you some bacta for that cut.”

“No I deserve to feel pain. I am a monster.”

“Rey -” Finn sighed but she wouldn’t let him talk her out of her self pity.

“Can’t you hear them Finn? How can I claim to defend peace and justice if I’m responsible for the injury and deaths of innocents? I don’t have a family, I was abandoned in the desert when Master Luke found me and now I’ve made those two little girls orphans. Oh God.” She broke off into a round of ugly sobs.

Finn didn’t know what to do. Ben didn’t know what to do. Rey refused to come inside, refused to talk to the therapy droid, refused to eat, refused to sleep.

Ben’s heart went out to her more than he knew it should. It wasn’t hard to have compassion for her when he could feel the whirlwind of emotions she was feeling. He wondered if she could feel his emotions too, if she knew how much he cared about her.

When he couldn’t bear to see her in that state any longer, he took a seat next to her on the rock. They were close but their shoulders didn’t touch. “So you don’t want to be a Jedi anymore.”

“No.” Rey said. She was tired and just wanted this to be over.

“Alright, what are you going to do instead?” He didn’t try and convince her to stay, saying that she had a promising career and all that, because reports from the senate weren’t looking good, they’d all probably have to start looking for alternatives.

“I’m pretty good at fixing things.” she said with a shrug after a long pause. “Might find a small workshop far from here.”

“Sounds good. You’d be good at that. Do you know where you’d live?”

“Don’t know.” Rey shrugged again. “Don’t really need much after living here for so long. I would like a droid though, one of my own. Someone to talk to.”

“Wouldn’t you prefer someone more organic?” Ben asked.

“I know I complained about the Sorka mission, but the Tooka Cat wasn’t so bad.”

Ben saw the ghost of a smile on her lips and he was glad to see it. “I mean, wouldn’t you want a companion, a family?” 

The ghost of a smile disappeared. “Ben, I don’t deserve -”

“I’m not asking what you think you deserve Rey, I’m asking what you want.”

“I’m tired Ben.” Rey said with a long sigh. “And hungry, and I really could do with a shower.”

“Yes, of course.” Ben said and helped her inside. She wasn’t well by any means but at least she was thinking about taking care of herself.

Rey slept for three days during which time the senate’s decision with regards to the Jedi was announced. Executive Order 66 stated that the Jedi Order was to immediately disband. All members were to hang up their lightsabers and leave the temple. They were expected to live normal lives, not revealing their powers to anyone.

The solution didn’t please everyone. The protesters thought the senate was being too lenient, essentially letting the Jedi get away with their crimes. For the now former members of the Jedi Order it meant being thrown into a life far different than the one they were used to.

“It’s all very well for the little ones,” Finn said as he doggedly followed Ben though the halls of the temple. “They still might have families to go back to. But I came here twenty years ago, I don’t know where my family is or if they’re still alive. Most of us don’t, we gave them up.”

“I know.” Ben said. He was lucky his mother was a public figure so he could keep up to date with her. “We’ll see what Master, I mean, Uncle Luke has to say.” If there was no more Jedi he didn’t have to keep calling him master.

Luke Skywalker had barely been seen in the past few weeks preferring to meditate. So far he hadn’t come up with a solution to their current problems but right now they needed a leader to help them through this transition.

“Uncle Luke.” Ben called, knocking on the door of his private meditation chamber. There was no answer.

Ben kept trying codes in the door panel but none would work. Finally he gave up and used one of his dad’s old tricks and stabbed his lightsaber through the panel and the door opened. Finn was a bit shocked but Ben just shrugged. What did it matter if they did a bit of property damage before they were forced to leave?

The two men walked in and found the room empty. They went and checked his private quarters, also empty. They enlisted the help of some of the others to check other parts of the temple but they found nothing. The Master of the Jedi Order had abandoned them.

To monitor the Jedi as they went into exile, the senate had set up the Inquisitorious. They were to keep the inquisitors informed about their movements and the inquisitors would take control if there were any incidents. They arrived in the morning to escort them away from the temple.

Ben felt guilty. The senate had allowed them ships to take them whenever they wanted, but most of the adults didn’t have a clue of where to go. Ben knew where he was going, and he was only extending that invitation to one other person.

Rey was standing alone in the garden furthest away from where the ships were docking staring out at nothing. She was wearing a set of light brown robes and her hair was down, effectively hiding the bold spot of where her braid had been. She knew that Ben had come to find her, they were always aware of each other's position.

“Have you come to say goodbye?” she asked in a voice that was choked with emotion.

“No, I was wondering if you had a destination in mind.”

“I was just going to ask them to drop me anywhere, I’m bound to find a garage or something fairly easily.”

“I have a better solution if you would hear it.” Ben said. He was kind of nervous. “I’m going back to my mother’s, come with me.”

Rey stared at him. “Won’t she mind?”

“No not at all. There’s plenty of space, you’ll have your own room. There are household droids to talk to and other people too. We’ll have to ask about the Tooka Cat though. You can work for my father if you like. He always needs mechanics, the Falcon always has something wrong with it. What do you say?”

Ben had thought of everything he could. He wanted the best for Rey and he hoped she could sense that.

There were tears in Rey’s eyes. “Thank you Ben. I know what I said the other day but I can’t bear the thought of living alone again.”

Ben wanted to gather her up in a hug but refrained. “I’ll make sure you’re never alone again I swear.” He gave her a shy smile. “I was wondering, when everything is settled, and since we are no longer Jedi, whether you’d consider going on a date with me.”

“A date?”

“Yes. It’s what people do when they like each other. Not that I want you to feel obliged to just because I found you somewhere to live. Only if you want to because I really like you and I want to know if you feel the same.”

Ben had to force himself to look up from his boots. He felt so bashful admitting the feelings he’d had for so long.

“You like me?” Rey asked unsure what to do about these new revelations.

“For a long time now. This bond we share, it means that I don’t want to be parted from you, but it's up to you of course.”

Rey bit her lip and gave the closest thing to a smile than she had done in weeks. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay, I will go with you to your mother’s house. Okay I will go on a date with you because I really like you too.”

Ben smiled as a weight was lifted off his chest. He offered Rey his hand and she took it. They walked hand to hand to the waiting shuttle ready to see what the future held.


	3. 15 Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Time jump time.
> 
> Most of the school stuff was inspired by the book Force Collector by Kevin Shinick.
> 
> CW: Periods

Hanna had a stomach ache and a headache, the latter of which was being exacerbated by the person sat next to her. It was one of the things she hated most about school, the unimaginative teachers who sat them in alphabetical order, so of course she was sat next to her twin brother Luca.

Luca liked to course trouble, liked to answer back, liked being the class clown. Hanna didn’t. She did as she was told. She was studious if not especially talented. She didn’t mind being middle of the road, she didn’t want to draw attention to herself.

Even after all these years, people still thought that their personalities would rub off on each other, but they were the same now as thirteen year olds as they were as little children, Hanna Solo was the quiet, well behaved one, Luca was a handful. He was currently arguing with their history teacher.

“But this is boring. Why can’t we learn about the Jedi?” Luca moaned. Hanna sighed. They had this argument every year in history class.

“Luca. You know that is banned history. It’s not on my syllabus or any syllabus out there.” said Mr Kragnotto, their Gungan history teacher. He was fed up with Luca and his antics and was counting down to the end of the school year so he could get rid of him.

“But you were around when they were. You must have seen them.”

“I remember the protests and the day they were forced into exile yes but that was the day the senate told us to forget about them. You were born after that day so there is no need for you to know about them and in a couple of decades they’ll be all but forgotten.” Mr Kragnotto felt a bit smug thinking he’d got the better of Luca.

“But what about the kids whose parents were Jedi?”

“Luca.” Hanna hissed at her brother. He was getting too close to revealing a secret, their family secret. He was making all her aches worse.

“The Jedi didn’t have children. They were celibate, it was one of their rules.” said Mr Kragnotto.

“But if they are no longer Jedi, they don’t have to be celibate do they? Ouch!” Luca exclaimed as Hanna pinched his leg. The Solo twins glared at each other. Hanna had inherited the dark hair and eyes and pale skin from her father. Luca took after his mother with lighter, warmer colourings.

“Yes, quite.” said their teacher. “Let’s get this lesson back on track shall we. So for homework I asked you to write a short report on the Mandalorian civil war. Maize, can you go fist.”

“When you do your presentation, cause a distraction. I want to play a trick on old Kragnotto.” Luca whispered to Hanna as the first report got under way. She looked at him and saw that there was a floating drawing pin in his cupped hands. He was using the force to make it float, something he was not supposed to do, ever.

“No. Stop that.” she hissed back.

“Never. I will not deny my heritage. Our family heritage.”

Hanna kept her anger internalised. Luca getting into trouble was nothing new but using the force was illegal. It wasn’t helping her stomach ache and she felt a bit sick. She should ask to visit the nurse, but it was nearly lunchtime, she’d go then.

Soon it was Hanna’s turn and she got up and stood in front of the class. She didn’t particularly enjoy speaking in front of people but at least she had done her homework unlike Luca. She made a pointed effort not to look in his direction as he was still trying to convince her to cause a distraction.

The stifled laughing started when Hanna was just over a paragraph in. She was confused, she was talking about food rationing, that wasn’t funny.

“Oh gross, she’s bleeding.” cried one of the boys and the laughter got a bit louder, the students not even trying to hide it.

Hanna looked down and froze in horror as she saw a red blood stain spread down the front of her grey school trousers. This could not be happening. In a moment she’d wake up and it would all be a dream, a nightmare. But it wasn’t. She had really started her period in front of her history class.

Mr Kragnotto stood up to try and regain control of his class.

“Humans are so disgusting.” sneered Kelee, a Bardatten mean girl. She already didn’t like Hanna for no discernible reason.

“This is no different than when Zarado’s horns started growing longer or when Lara’s adult coat of fur started coming in.” he said rather diplomatically if not a little flustered.

“Yeah but to bleed out of your privates.” Kelee shuddered.

“Yes, well,” Mr Kragnotto stammered. Why did he think working with teenagers was a good idea? “Paige, can you sort Hanna out please?”

Luckily Paige was another human girl and friends with Hanna so she was sympathetic and hadn’t laughed. She gathered up their bags, tied a jumper around Hanna’s waist and escorted her to the toilet. Hanna was too in shock to do anything but follow, she couldn’t even cry with embarrassment and shame.

“Right, can we please get back to the lesson. Luca you’re meant to go next but have you done your homework, no of course you haven’t” It was beyond a joke at this point. “Royka you’re up.”

The Gungan went to sit down but immediately jumped up again with a shout causing the class to erupt again. He looked down and there was a drawing pin on his seat where there wasn’t one before.

There could only be one person responsible. Luca wasn’t laughing like the rest of the class. He was looking at him coolly, chin resting lightly on his fist.

Well, Mr Kragnotto thought, I don’t know how he’s done it but he wouldn’t be looking so calm if he knew that he had a surveillance camera set up.

*~*~*~*

Rey was very used to being called into school. There didn’t seem to be a week where Luca wasn’t sent to the office for one reason or another. They must think she was a terrible mother, but she wasn’t and Luca wasn’t a bad kid, it was just school wasn’t for him. Rey knew what type of school her son wanted to go to but she couldn’t do that for him. He wanted to go to Jedi school.

Ben and Rey knew that there was a very high probability that their children would be strong in the force and it’s what scared her the most. Using the force was illegal and children caught using it could be taken by the Inquisitorous. So instead of teaching her children to harness their powers she was forced to make them suppress what made them special because the world viewed them as dangerous. Hanna did as she was told, Luca chafed against it.

Today was different though, today she had been called in because of both of her twins. Her poor, sweet, sensitive Hanna, so much like her father. Rey’s heart went out to her daughter, how mortified she must feel. Both were outside the Headmaster’s office waiting for her. Hanna was wearing gym shorts, hugging her knees making herself as small as possible, Luca was chatting to one of the secretaries, they were on first name terms. Rey would deal with him later.

“How are you feeling sweetie?” she asked sitting down next to her daughter. “Did you sort yourself out okay?”

Hanna nodded. She was a bit pale and her eyes were red from crying. “Paige helped me then I had a talk with the nurse. Can we go home?”

“Soon sweetie,” Rey patted her knee, sad that she wasn’t around to help her daughter in the privacy of their own home. “I need to sort that one out first.” She sent a glare to her eldest son, who at least had the good sense to look guilty.

“Mrs Solo, thank you for coming.” said the Orissian headmaster, Mr Boolio.

“You keep an eye on B.B. okay sweetie.” Rey said and walked into the office with Luca.

Hanna looked at her baby brother. He grinned at her. At ten months old he only had a couple of teeth. She didn’t feel like smiling back, but that wasn’t fair on him, he was just a happy little baby bobbing along in his floating pod.

“So Luca, why don’t you explain to your mother why I’ve called you in here.” Mr Boolio said when they all sat down. The history teacher was there too.

“Sorry Mum, but I didn’t do my homework again. I don’t know why you had to come all the way down here but I’ll take my detention. Now we really should be getting Hanna home, she’s had a rough day.” Luca said with the self assured attitude he’d gotten from his grandfather.

“That’s not all,” said the Gungan. “He’s a disruptive influence, argumentative and he put a drawing pin on my chair.”

“You saw him do this?” asked Rey

“Well no.”

“Then how do you know it was him.” A mother had to defend her son even if he was probably guilty.

“I hid a camera.” The teacher triumphantly produced a recording device. Rey turned to see Luca had shrunk in his chair and pulled his jumper up over his mouth.

The holovid began and immediately Rey was angry. There was her little girl frozen in terror with a dark stain on her trousers. There was no sound but the other kids in the class were laughing at her.

“I want this video destroyed.” she said with an icy tone to her voice.

“Yes that’s probably best.” the headmaster said, looking uncomfortable.

“I know what happened to Hanna was embarrassing but look at him.” The history teacher pointed at Luca on the screen. He wasn’t looking towards his sister, his fingers were subtly stretched towards the teachers desk. “And look, what is that?” There was a speck floating along catching the light about the size of a drawing pin.

Rey sighed. She couldn’t believe she was doing this, again.

She waved her hand at Mr Boolio. “That’s nothing just, a speck of dust.”

“That’s nothing, just a speck of dust.” he repeated.

“But this and paired with his insistent question about -” Mr Kragnotto argued but Rey made the headmaster interrupt.

“You will delete the holovid and we are free to go.” she said.

“We will delete the holovid and you are free to go.”

This time Mr Kragnotto’s protests were cut off by a metallic crash from outside the office and girls screaming.

They all hurried outside to see that a large metal filing cabinet had fallen over and nearly crushed three girls who were now running away. Rey looked over at Hanna and took in her scowl and the protective way she was holding B.B. who was clearly distressed by the noise.

No one said anything until they were all safely in the speeder on the way home, away from prying eyes and ears.

“What happened?” Rey asked, looking at Hanna in the rear view mirror. She sat with her arms crossed looking blankly out the window.

“They were making fun of B.B’s ears.” Rey sighed. She loved B.B’s ears, he’d inherited them from Ben, but they did stick out a little bit. It wouldn’t be so bad once his hair started growing.

“And you made a cabinet fall on them with the force? Nice.” Luca went in for a high five with his sister but she left him hanging.

“No, not nice, what is wrong with you?” Hanna said. “Unlike you, I don’t want the force. I don’t want things to move when I’m angry. I want to be normal.”

“Who’d want to be normal when you could be a Jedi?” Luca asked, crossing his arms and looking out the other window.

“For what it’s worth,” Rey said hoping she could bring an end to the argument. “If the Jedi were still allowed to be, you wouldn’t have been born. And if you asked me which life I preferred, it would be this one with my family.”


	4. Chapter 4

Ben stared out of the windscreen of his air speeder at the stand still traffic ahead of him. It was too small for his large frame but they couldn’t afford a new one, not on his salary from the Citizen’s Assistance Service. Any money that his mother managed to send his way was spent on the children. It was what he and Rey had decided. They made it work but he wasn’t exactly happy.

Don’t get him wrong. He loved Rey and the twins and baby B.B. but he wasn’t content and wanted more out of life. Ben hated his nine to five job hunched over a desk where there was so much corporate red tape that it was practically impossible to get people the help they needed. Hated getting stuck in traffic on his morning commutes. Hated being too tired to hang out with his family. Hated himself for being the reason they’d had to move four times in the last ten years.

Things started off so well after they’d left the Jedi temple and that way of life behind them. For the first year he and Rey had lived with his parents and helped out his dad with his slightly illegal shipping business. During their free time they went on many dates experiencing all the things they hadn’t been able to do before.

But then Rey got pregnant and things had to change. She didn’t want Ben taking any risks so he took a job as aide to one of his mother’s political friends. They got married and moved into their own apartment.

Having twins was hard work, they were tired all the time but it was worth it. Rey was so happy to have a family of her own. But then the worry set in. Both children started showing signs of being able to use the Force. They would bring toys and treats to them from across the room and things would fall over when they throw a tantrum. Rey didn’t want her babies taken away by the inquisitors so spent her energy covering for them, whereas Ben thought it would be a better idea to teach them so they could control their powers.

In the end it was Ben’s fault that the inquisitors were called. He had been in a less than ideal part of town surveying the area for various housing projects when he came across a crime in progress. Before thinking that he shouldn’t get involved, Ben chased down the suspect and apprehended him using the Force. It felt good to be doing the work of a Jedi again, but no one else thought so. There were witnesses to the chase and when the police arrived they tasered him as well. He was bailed out by the Grand Inquisitor himself, the man’s stark white head and pointed teeth still haunted him.

They had to move far away, away from the friends they had made, away from Han and Leia, somewhere where no one knew them and start again.

The next three times were similar. He tried no to so he could provide some stability for his family but when he saw some injustice in the world, he wanted to correct it even if nobody appreciated him for doing so.

Things had calmed down since the last move two years ago. They had somehow ended up in the same city as their old friend Finn. It was so nice to see someone from the old days, someone who understood what they were going through. Ben and Finn went every Wednesday night.

Then of course, B.B. was born. It was a bit of a surprise having another baby twelve years after the first two, but Ben somehow felt it was easier this time considering they were older, knew what to expect, there was only one baby and he didn’t appear to have the Force.

Ben pulled up outside their fairly modest apartment. If he was being honest it was also too small. It wasn’t so bad when they just had the twins but soon B.B. would be needing his own room and it wasn’t fair to make all three of them share a fresher.

He turned off the engine and sighed, he didn’t know what to do, about his speeder, the apartment or his job. Taking a few breaths to fortify himself, to mask his discontent, to make sure he presented himself as the husband and father his family deserved.

What greeted him when he walked through the front door was far from calm. Luca and Hanna were screaming at each other worse than usual which was upsetting B.B.

“Ben, do something.” Rey shouted at him. She was doing her best to keep the twins apart. Ben raised a hand in either of their directions and used the Force to hold them in place. They each gave a little squeak as they found themselves unable to move.

“That’s not what I meant.” Rey said crossly. She hated even casual uses of the Force. They’d had to close off their special bond.

“What did you want me to do then?” Ben asked but Rey had turned her attention to soothing B.B. He turned his attention back to Hanna and Luca. “What’s this all about this time?”

Neither of them said anything, they just glared at each other.

“I’m not letting you go until you tell me.”

“Luca used the Force at school today to put a pin on the teacher’s chair.” Hanna said at last.

“I’m not the only one who used the Force today. Hanna made a filing cabinet fall over.” Luca spat back.

“I didn’t do it on purpose!”

“I didn’t nearly seriously hurt anyone!”

“At least I didn’t get caught and have to have Mother bail me out again!”

The Force, Ben thought. Of course this was all about the Force. They only ever seem to argue about the Force. He glanced at Rey to find out about her part in this but she pointedly ignored him.

“Right,” he said calmly. “I’m going to let go but you stay exactly where you are, alright?”

As soon as he let them go they mirrored each other by both folding their arms and turning around in a huff.

“We talked about this. You know the law.” Ben said.

“I don’t see why it’s so bad.” Luca said turning back around. “When you get caught all we have to do is move.”

“Dad was at least doing something heroic, saving people, not playing a prank on a hapless Gungan.” Hanna shouted before Ben could say anything.

“It wasn’t just me, you played your part wonderfully my dear sister.” Luca said slyly.

“I didn’t do that on purpose!”

“You don’t do a lot of stuff on purpose do you? That doesn’t make you innocent you know.”

Hanna thrust her arms up towards her brother and before Ben could intervene, Luca went flying backwards, tumbling over the back of a chair.

“Hanna!”

“Ha. That was fun. Let’s do that again.” Luca said, now in a totally different mood.

“Look Luca.” Ben said helping him to his feet. “I know you don’t think my punishment was so bad, but because of my actions I’m forcing us to start over our lives again and again when you needn't have to.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that only your father was meant to move, we didn’t have to.” Rey said.

“So we could have stayed with Grandma and Grandpa?” Hanna asked.

“Yes but they supported my decision to follow my husband.” Rey said and they shared a look that made Ben’s heart swell. Even after all these years she still supported him no matter what he did. “No one brakes up this family. They can’t stop me following your dad but they can take you away from us if you get caught.”

“Sorry Mum,” Luca said, the message for now at least getting through to him.

“It’s okay darling but I don’t want to be called in for something like this again. Teachers being annoyed at you for not doing your homework I can deal with, but please do your homework.”

“I really can’t make any promises, about the homework I mean.” He gave his mother a smirk straight out of Han Solo’s play book.

“And you,” Rey turned to Hanna. “I think we’ll talk another night, you’re not in the right headspace right now. Let’s just have dinner shall we?”

“I’m not hungry.” Hanna muttered, hugging herself.

“I assure you you are. You’ll feel better once you’ve eaten and you need to keep your iron levels up.”

“What do you mean iron levels?” Ben asked. He wasn’t an expert or anything but Hanna did look pale, paler than usual.

“Do you want to tell him or shall I?” Rey asked.

“No!” Hanna squawked.

“He’s your father. He has a right to know what’s going on with you, especially when you’re acting differently.” Rey said calmly.

“Know what?” Ben asked tentatively.

Rey looked at their daughter and sighed. “Hanna’s period started today in less than ideal circumstances.”

“Oh.” It was all Ben could really say as Hanna groaned and pulled her hood tightly over her head. His little girl had grown up, when had that happened?

“Do you want a hug?” He asked. Rey always wanted and liked a hug even when they were back in the temple.

“No.” Hanna said and walked away, towards the dining table.

“She doesn’t mean it.” Rey whispered sensing he was feeling a bit rejected.


	5. Chapter 5

“Here is your dessert Miss Hanna,” said IG-99 their repurposed assassin household droid who was currently in serving mode. “Endorian chocolate fudge cake with extra rich sauce and organic ice-cream from Hoth.”

The cake he put down in front of Hanna was huge, probably big enough for the whole family to share, but after the day she’d had she needed it. It made her do the closest thing to a smile that she had done all evening.

“And for Master Luca, green milk pudding.” The half solidified slimy looking green dome wobbled as he put it down on the table. It made Luca feel queasy.

“But I don’t like green milk pudding.” he said sticking out his tongue at the dessert.

“A growing boy needs their protein.” the droid said in its perfectly monotone voice and went back through to the kitchen.

“That’s not far. Mum do something.” Luca moaned.

“I’m not reprogramming the droid if that’s what you’re asking. I like him the way he is.” Rey wasn’t really paying attention, she was too busy trying to get B.B. to eat his dinner and pulling silly faces in the process.

IG-99 had been with them for about ten years. Rey had rebuilt him after purchasing him second hand from a junk dealer, and then again after he’d accidently been run over, and had maintained him to help around the house. He was very useful especially after B.B. was born, but the droid didn’t like Luca for some reason. Maybe it was because Luca was the one to run him over.

“Dad.” Luca groaned.

Ben sighed. He didn’t really have time for this, he was going out. “Maybe you could just give your brother a little bit, hey Hanna?”

He couldn’t believe his luck when Hanna did as asked without throwing a strop. She carved off a small piece of cake and put it on a plate with a small scoop of already melting ice-cream. Then she passed the plate to her brother. Her other brother.

“Have you go B.B.” she said sending a look of utter disdain towards her twin. B.B. reached over eagerly to the food he already knew was so much better than the mushy orange stuff that was trying to be fed to him.

Luca glared at Hanna. Hanna glared at Luca. Ben glanced at the two of them warily ready to intervene, again. But before anyone could move, there was a knock at the door.

“Hey Uncle Finn.” Luca cried as IG-99 let him in. “Think fast.” With that he frisbeed his pudding across the room. Finn caught it deftly using the force.

“Finn!” Rey said crossly.

“I’m sorry peanut but would you really rather I’d let it splutter on the floor?” As if on cue B.B. knocked his pot of orange mush off the table.

“Wouldn’t really matter.” she muttered.

The pudding jiggled as Finn put it back on the table. “And what have you done this time young man that meant you got green milk pudding while your sister has that delicious looking chocolate cake?”

“Hanna started her period today so she needs a bit of cheering up.” said Rey.

“Oh my God Mum!” Hanna said slamming her fork down. “Are you just going to tell everybody?” She stormed out of the room leaving the rest of her cake free for Luca to finish.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.” Rey said more to herself than the stunned Finn. “I’ll go talk to her. Say hi to Poe for me Finn and please don’t stay out too late Ben.”

Wednesday night was bowling night and Ben was especially glad for the excuse to leave once Hanna started simultaneously shrieking and crying.

“Hey Dad, take me with you?” Luca asked, his mouth full of chocolate cake.

“Not tonight, look after your brother.” Ben knew he should feel a bit guilty for leaving him behind, but where they were going wasn’t safe for a thirteen year old.

*~*~*~*

Ben and Finn didn’t actually go bowling on Wednesday nights, never had done in the two years they had been living in the same city, it was just what they told their respective partners. They had intended to that first week but they’d come across something more intriguing.

Down one of the alleys they walked past, some type of meeting was going down between a group of aliens Ben didn’t recognise and a lone figure in long, hooded black robes. Finn tried to get him to move along, it had nothing to do with them, but even though it would get him into trouble Ben still had a sense of justice.

Suddenly the hooded figure’s bony hands shot out, the aliens convulsed and collapsed. Finn grabbed Ben before he could move from their hiding place, and they watched the figure take off with superhuman speed and easily leap up the side of the building. It was like he -

“He used the force.” Ben said in awe.

“Great.” Finn muttered. “I guess we should call the inquisitors then.”

“No they won’t believe us.” Ben said. That may not have been true but Ben had an idea and he didn’t want the inquisitors to get in the way.

The deaths of the alien gang were reported on the news. They were small time smugglers specialising in rare metals. Their deaths were mysterious but with the lack of evidence they were chalked up to gang violence.

Over the last two years Ben and Finn had been using the Wednesday evenings trying to track and make sense of the pattern of similar attacks they believed were connected to the hooded figure. They had only got close to stopping him once.

Tonight they were sat in Finn’s speeder waiting to see if anything came up on the old signal scanner that Rey had fixed up for them without realising what it was for.

“So,” Finn said. “Your little girl is now a little lady.”

“Please don’t remind me.” Ben groaned. “I’m still a bit shocked. I mean when did she grow up? One minute she won’t go to sleep until I’ve checked her room for monsters, the next this.”

“Maybe we should have taken Luca bowling just to get him out of the house. You know, actually do what our partners think we’re doing.”

“No. This is important.” Ben said. He didn’t really know why but he wanted to find out. Who was this person? Rough Jedi or something worse?

“How is it important? There have barely been any incidents in the last few months and we haven’t seen him with our own eyes for even longer.” Ben gave Finn a look that he knew better than to argue with. He sighed and went back to a topic Ben couldn’t disagree with, the good old days.

“At least you only have one daughter. Do you remember back at the temple when all the girls’ cycles synced up and all anyone could do for a week was meditation because Master Luke was scared they were too aggressive and would fall to the dark side?”

Ben couldn’t help but grin more at his uncle’s reaction to the situation than anything else. It got better once the medics started prescribing suppressants.

“Do you still have no idea where he went?” Finn asked more quietly.

“No.” Ben shook his head. “I think Mother’s secretly kept an ear out all this time but -”

He was interrupted by a notification from the scanner. It had been modified to pick up most frequencies in the area, especially those used by the criminal gangs most likely to be in contact with their quarry.

“A shipment of doonium at the docks, exchange in twenty minutes. Sounds promising and we’re not too far away.” Ben said looking at Finn excitedly.

“Fine.” Finn sighed.

They left the speeder and ran to the docks, scaling one of the taller buildings to get a vantage point. They may have been at different docks in a different city, but Ben felt a little uneasy at how similar the setup was to that fateful night fifteen years ago.

Just like the other exchanges they’d witnessed, it started with the hooded figure emerging from the shadows and ended with the gang members dead.

“Why does anyone still do business with this guy?” Finn whispered. “Everyone he meets ends up dead. And I thought you said this was about a doonium shipment? I don’t see any do you?”

Ben furrowed his brow. “I’m going to follow him.”

“No Ben.” Finn said but he was already off across the rooftops.

He wasn’t as fit as he used to be. Fifteen years ago he used to train everyday, but now it was more of a chore than anything to even go for a walk at the weekend. The force helped though, Ben could just about keep pace with the hooded figure as he ran along the docks. It was hard to keep track of him in the shadows but Ben was pretty sure he was still there.

As Ben got to the last building of the row, he leapt off to the street below. By his calculations he should have landed right by the hooded figure but as he looked around he found that he was alone. Just as well, he’d landed harder than he should have and he was a bit out of breath.

Ben put a call through to Finn on his wrist communicator. “Yeah, I lost him.”

“Well I’ve just had a quick look round the dock, there doesn't seem to be any doonium here.” Finn replied.

Ben was about to say something back when a sudden cold feeling went straight through his body. Turning around he found himself face to face with the hooded figure. Close up he wasn’t as tall as Ben but he was certainly powerful, he could feel it pouring off him. His hood was so deep it cast his whole face in shadow. The only thing that was visible was the dim glow of his yellow eyes.

“Ben you need to get out of there, the police are about to arrive.” Finn said over the communicator, it made Ben realise that he’d been frozen in place.

“Ben,” the hooded figure said in a frighteningly raspy voice that sent a shiver down Ben’s spine, but not as much as what he said next.

“Solo.” Then he vanished.

*~*~*~*

It was very late by the time Ben got home. Everyone was asleep, even IG-99 was powered down for the night. In his bedroom B.B. had kicked off the blanket and was starfished in his crib. He was making little cooing noises. Ben smiled down at him and stroked his soft chubby cheek. How precious he was, Ben thought, how tiny and peaceful, for now, before he’d know it, he’d be a teenager as well.

Ben tucked B.B. back in and then got undressed. Rey stirred a little as he got into bed beside her.

“Who won?” she murmured sleepily.

“Finn did.” he lied he was used to telling by now.

“You haven’t won in ages.” 

“No but it doesn’t matter.” Ben wrapped his arms around her so they could spoon, he needed the physical contact right now.

“You’re so cold.” Rey complained.

“Goodnight sweetheart.” he said kissing the back of her head. He didn’t, he couldn’t, tell her that it was meet in the hooded man that had made him so cold. How could he have known his name?


	6. Chapter 6

Everyone apart from Rey and B.B. was stubborn to get up in the morning. She went around banging on doors and shaking sleeping bodies. She left B.B. on the bed with Ben, who would have happily ignored the prodding and poking of little hands just to stay in bed, but the fact that the baby needed changing meant he couldn’t.

“I don’t want to go to school.” Hanna said. She was in the living area but still in her sleep ware. Luca was dressed for school but he looked scruffy. “These cramps are really bad.”

“That’s not fair.” Luca said, his mouth full of his breakfast. “You’re just embarrassed. They can’t be that bad.”

“That is such a man thing to say.” Hanna shouted back. Rey stopped her before she could lunge at her brother.

“Luca you really don’t need to voice an opinion on this, it doesn’t concern you.” Rey scolded. “Now Hanna, you can stay home today and we’ll go get you something to help manage the pain but I want you to try and go back tomorrow okay?”

Hanna nodded, Luca sulked.

*~*~*~*

The work day started off like any other. Ben dropped off Luca so he could catch the hover bus to school, then he sat in nose to tail traffic in the sky lanes all the way to his office. Once there he mumbled greetings to other grumpy, tired co-workers and helped himself to a cup of stale caf from the machine.

Ben hadn’t long been at his desk when he got a call to go to his boss’ office.

Mr Ryder was a short middle aged man with a sense of self importance. Ben didn’t like him. He would deny the most needy people the help they needed on the smallest technicalities. He liked to take the assist out of the Citizens’ Assistance Service.

“Have a seat Ben.” Mr Ryder said, straightening and lining up the pencils on his desk. Ben did as he was told.

“I’m not happy Ben. Do you know why Ben?”

“They didn’t have your favourite pastry at the bakery this morning.” He attempted to make a joke but it didn’t fly well.

“I’m not happy because the Taa family arrived this morning claiming that you approved their application to move into the new block of social housing.”

“Yes because their old home is being demolished and they have nowhere else to go.”

“There are people ahead of them on the waiting list Ben.” Ryder said coldly.

“But none of them are quiet as desperate.” Ben argued. “They are on a fixed income since only Mr Taa is working, with two small children and another on the way. They’re staying in a hostel at the moment which is far from ideal, they need somewhere to live before the baby comes.”

“There is a waiting list for a reason Ben. You can't just jump people to the top just because they tell you some sob story.”

“But -” Ben was angry now. How could someone be so heartless? Yes everyone on the waiting list needed help but some more than others and Ben really did believe that the Taa’s case needed resolving quickly.

“You’re soft Solo.” Ryder said. “Now the Taa family are waiting in Interview Room 2. You’re going to go tell them that their application is suspended and they’ll have to wait their turn like everyone else.”

Mr Ryder marcher Ben to Interview Room 2 to find the whole of the Taa family waiting for them.

“Thank you for waiting Mr Taa, Mrs Taa.” Ben could hear the fake sincerity in Ryder’s voice.

“Not at all. We are very eager to complete our housing application.” Mr Taa said. He was a blue skinned Twi’lek with lekku that faded into near purple.

“Yes about that, Ben.” Ryder said cruelly. It wasn’t just cruel to the Taa family, but for Ben too. He had seen how excited they were to know they were getting a new home, how grateful they were. It actually gave Ben some job satisfaction.

“As you know, the demand for social housing is great.” Ben began. His voice was a bit shaky, he didn’t want to do this. He looked at the family; the anxious faces of the adults, Mrs Taa round with child, the children sitting nicely at their parent’s feet playing with some wooden blocks, they were too young for school with big eyes and short lekku. He couldn’t do it.

“But your predicament is great,” he said. “Your application will go through.”

Mr and Mrs Taa visibly relaxed but before Ryder could contradict him, Ben stretched out his arm and used the force to pin his boss to the wall and squeezed his throat just enough to stop him from talking. Mra Taa clamped a hand over her mouth in shock.

“You’re one of those.” Mr Taa said in a voice somewhere between awe and terror.

“Yes, but you shouldn’t be afraid, I want to help you.” Ben said from the data terminal in the room where he was downloading everything the Taa’s would need to secure their new home. The children had gotten up off the floor and were hiding their father, away from the man who was clawing at the invisible hands around his throat.

Ben left the data stick on the table in front of the stunned Mr Taa and walked out of the room. As he did his hold on Ryder disappeared and the man fell to the floor coughing and spluttering.

Ben went back to his desk to collect his things, he wouldn’t be coming back here.

It wasn’t until he was back at his speeder that Ben realised what he’d done.

“Oh kriff.” he said to himself as he leaned over the flight controls. He had most definitely lost his job but now he was going to have to move his family again on barely any money.

“Kriff indeed Mr Solo.” Ben jumped at the sound of the polished voice coming from next to him. He was not alone in the speeder. He turned to see the ghostly white head and sharp teeth of the Grand Inquisitor staring intently from the passenger seat.

“Though you are in luck this time Mr Solo. We’ll only have to neutralise your former boss Mr Ryder as the only witnesses will keep their silence because they are grateful to you.”

“So I don’t have to move again?” Ben asked.

“No but you have no job and no reference.” His heart sank at the Grand Inquisitor’s tone. “I’ll leave you to break the news to your family. Speaking of, we’ve heard rumors, and these are only rumors mind, coming from your children’s school. Something about floating pins and falling cabinets. Do you know anything about that?”

“No sir.” Ben lied. The Grand Inquisitor leaned in closer to get a better look at him. Ben was scared he would smell the lie and follow up on it but he said nothing.

“Stay out of trouble Solo.” And with those parting words, Ben was set adrift.

*~*~*~*

Ben flew around for hours before he finally got the courage to fly home and face the music.

“You’re home early.” Rey said cheerfully. She was carrying B.B. who was chewing on his teething ring. It was a pretty nice sight to come home to.

“They let us out early. There was a small fire.” Ben knew he shouldn’t lie to Rey but he couldn’t tell her the truth just yet.

“I hope you didn’t start it.” she said jokingly and he forced himself to grin. “I know you don’t like it there but I really appreciate you sticking with it. In a couple of months we can send B.B. to a sitter and I can go back to the garage and hopefully things won’t be so tight. Maybe you can look for something you enjoy more then.”

Ben felt a lump in his throat. He really didn’t deserve Rey and he didn’t think he’d be able to tell her the truth now.

“It’s quiet tonight,” he said clearing his throat.

“Yes well they’ve already had a fight and have shut themselves in their rooms. Luca brought home Hanna’s homework and tried to give her his as well.”

“Right.” Ben forced out a laugh at the twin’s antics. “Is dinner ready?”

“Not yet as I wasn’t expecting you home so soon.”

“Okay. I just got a few things I need to see to in the office.”

The office wasn’t really an office. It was an oversized utility closet that had a desk and computer in it and boxes of stuff from their old lives. It gave Ben a private space to think but Rey’s idea was to clear it out so that B.B. would have his own room. It was small but it would only be for a few years since one or both of the twins would want to move out when they were eighteen, which was scarily, not that far away.

Ben sank into his chair, head in hands, his bag fell open on the floor, spilling its contents. What was he going to do? He couldn’t tell Rey he had been fired. She didn’t show it and had never said, but he was pretty sure she was getting to the end of her rope with him using the force and casting their family into uncertainty. Why did she stay with him when he kept uprooting their lives?

When Ben sat up he noticed something had fallen out of his bag. Something he had not seen in a long time, something he definitely knew he did not have in the offices of the Citizen’s Assistance Service. A Jedi holocron.

He picked up the green cube that was faintly glowing. He hadn’t seen one in so long, he couldn’t be sure it was real. Where had it come from?

Carefully Ben reached out with the force to open the holocron. The metal vertices twisted and came away from the main cub and a hologram appeared.

The man in the hologram was about Ben’s age, straight backed and serious faced. He was wearing a starched military style uniform but it was clear he was no Jedi. A message began to play.

_ This is a message for Ben Solo, former Jedi Knight. Please pay attention as this message is highly classified and will not be repeated. _

_ My name is Hux and I represent a top secret division known as the First Order and we are in need of your unique abilities. We have become aware of your efforts to track and trace a hooded figure operating in the shadows targeting smugglers. We are interested in this man too. His name is Sidious and he was once a member of our group but has since gone rogue. By working together we can bring him down. _

_ The Jedi aren’t gone Mr Solo, you’re still here and you can still do great things. _

_ If you accept, your payment will be triple your annual salary. Come to these coordinates in four days time. _

A set of coordinates flashed on screen and Ben scrambled to write them down before the hologram disappeared. He sat there not quite believing what he had just heard. Triple his salary would definitely solve his money problems and he’d get to be a Jedi again, that would help his restlessness. He’d already made up his mind that he would go but what to tell Rey. She would never approve if he told her the truth.

The holocron beeped and folded itself back into its original shape. “This message will self-destruct in five...four…” a computerised voice said.

“Kriff.” Ben said, hurrying to open the window and fling the holocron out, using the force to get it as far away from the building as possible. The explosion was surprisingly big for such a small object.

Rey came running into the room and saw him standing by the open window. “What the hell was that?”

“Someone must have set off a firework.”

“So close to the building? What an idiot.” she said. “Well dinner’s ready and I’ll need your help policing angry teenagers.”


	7. Chapter 7

Rey was pleasantly surprised to be woken by the soft and sweet murmurings of her husband talking to their baby son. She allowed herself a few extra moments to take in the sight. B.B. was a rather larger baby but when Ben held him, he looked tiny.

“Am I late?” Rey asked, taking one last comforting squeeze of the pillow before getting up.

“No, I just woke up early. B.B. needed changing then I decided to give him his bottle."

“Thank you.” she said, giving Ben a kiss on the cheek and then rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m glad to see you’re feeling better this morning.”

“I slept much better and now everything doesn’t seem quite so gloomy as it did yesterday.” They stifled a giggle as B.B. belched after finishing his bottle.

“I don’t want to make you late, but if you could finish getting B.B. ready that would be a great help while I deal with the other two.” Rey threw on some clothes that were fairly clean and quickly tied her hair back. She didn’t have time to worry about her appearance.

It took several attempts to raise the twins but eventually they emerged. Luca looked as scruffy as ever.

“Really Luca can’t you just tuck your shirt in and comb your hair, make it look like you haven’t just rolled out of bed.” Rey asked taking in her son’s appearance.

“But I have just got out of bed.” he sullenly answered back, and went into the kitchen in search of food. Rey sighed and tried not to hold it against him. He had hormones too that were different from his sister’s.

“Come on Hanna.”

Hanna was dressed for school but looked ready to curl up on herself. “I don’t want to go.”

“Hanna you said you’d try and really, you’ve only got this excuse for a few more days even without the pain killers.” reasoned Rey.

“But everyone’s going to laugh at me.” Hanna said on the brink of tears.

“Oh sweetie I know how you feel but they’ll only do it as long as they know it gets to you.” Rey knew it was hard for Hanna, she hated having the attention on her good or bad. It was a weakness the mean kids at school knew they could exploit. “You’re just going to have to ignore them and they’ll soon move on. Just stick with Paige, she won’t say anything.”

Hanna muttered something inaudible but shuffled through to the kitchen for breakfast.

What was in the kitchen surprised Rey. “What happened to you?” she asked Luca. He was suddenly not so scruffy looking, shirt tucked in jumper straightened, his brown hair combed and doing an odd flicky thing at the front. It was what she wanted sure, but it was still strange to see.

“I had a word.” Ben said.

“What did you say?” She wanted to know what had gotten through to their son.

“Look B.B’s all dressed too.” Ben held the baby out to her. He was wearing a fuzzy brown jumper and comfy green pants. The look of happiness on his innocent little face always made Rey melt. He reached out to her with his chunky little arms.

“Has Daddy got you all dressed up for our trip to the market?” she asked in her baby voice earning her an even bigger smile.

Rey would have been happy enough to just stand in the kitchen bouncing her baby on her hip but she had all day to do that, right now she needed to get the twins to school.

“Come on, you two need to leave otherwise you’ll miss the bus.” she said but Hanna had hardly eaten anything and Luca was helping himself to another breakfast ronto wrap.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take them.” Ben said, offering her a fresh cup of caff.

“To the bus or to school? I don’t want you to be late either.”

“I won’t be.” he said, giving her a kiss as well as her caff.

*~*~*~*

When Hanna and Luca were little, Rey had always hated going to the market with them. Not only did they have a tendency to misbehave, fight and wander off, but if they saw something they liked, they’d use the force to take it off the shelves because they didn’t know any better.

B.B. on the other hand was a much easier baby. He was happy to just sit in his floating pod and watch the world go by while Rey did the shopping.

“Oh you have a little one.” said some random woman while Rey was waiting to pay. “What’s his name?”

“This is B.B.” Rey said. She didn’t meet a lot of people outside of the mother and baby groups she went to, but babies were a good conversation starter.

“B.B? Like the droid series? How odd.” said the woman.

“No, well technically, but it’s short for -”

“Are his ears meant to stick out like that?”

Rey frowned and took her leave of the woman. She didn’t care if she was thought of as rude. There was nothing wrong with her baby’s appearance, nothing wrong with his name. She didn’t need strangers making comments.

Rey was still fuming when she got home and left IG-99 to put the food away. It was surprising what made her feel better. Ben had called her and asked if she wanted to meet him for lunch. It had been years since they’d done that.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was a mismatched mess. If Luca had managed to go to school looking presentable she could at least do her hair and find something a bit more flattering to wear.

B.B. had fallen asleep by the time they got to the little cafe near Ben’s office. He was such a good little baby. His pod hovered next to the table Ben had already gotten for them. He’d already ordered too, a sandwich and cake slice to share and a cup of caff each.

“So what’s the occasion?” Rey asked, spearing some of the salad that came with the sandwich.

“Would you believe me if I said I just wanted to see you?” Ben said with a cheeky grin that made her feel like they were a lot younger.

“I would say you were up to something.”

“Well I do have something to tell you.” Ben’s face turned more serious.

“Nothing too bad I hope.” Rey said bracing herself against her cup of caff.

“No nothing bad. It’s just that I’m being sent on a training course next week. It’ll be for a few days and out of town so you’ll be on your own.”

“What sort of training?”

“Managerial.” Ben said it like he couldn’t quite believe it himself.

“That’s great!” Rey said excitedly. “I’m really happy and I’m glad that they’re finally recognising your talents.”

“I mean nothing’s going to come of it for a while and it probably won’t be here but there are other branches in the city.” He looked a little bashful.

“But when the position becomes available, you’ll be ready.” Rey squeezed his hand across the table. “I think we should have another slice of cake to celebrate, don’t you?”

*~*~*~*

There was a change between the twins when Rey picked them up from school, a good change.

“What happened?” Rey asked, looking at the two of them in the back seat.

“Go on, tell her.” Luca said nudging Hanna. She sighed and batted his hand away.

“When the other kids at school started making fun of me, he stood up for me and they stopped.” she said rather reluctantly.

“So he should. You two should always look out for each other.” Rey said, feeling a little proud. Whatever Ben had said to Luca that morning really worked.

“And now you owe me.” Luca crowed.

Hanna rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll help you with your maths homework, but you have to do the book report by yourself.”

“But that’s boring.” he complained.

“No it’s a good idea and it’ll make me happy as well knowing you’ve had a go at your homework.” Rey said.

Hanna’s idea of helping Luca with his homework was to do it as soon as they got home.

“But it’s Friday night.” he argued.

“Start working on it now and you’ll probably finish it before dinner, then it’s out of the way.” Rey said as mediator as she steered her son back to the dinning table so he and Hanna could work on their homework together.

Hanna wasn’t exactly patient with her brother and they were back to arguing by the time Ben got home.

“What’s it about this time?” he asked, wrapping his arms around Rey’s shoulders and hugging her from behind.

“Evidence that Hanna shouldn’t become a teacher.” she said.

“Maybe next weekend I can take them out for a hike.” Ben suggested. “Bit of team bonding or at least try and tire them out.”

“Good idea.” Rey said. They were always cooped up inside and didn’t get enough fresh air.

She leaned back into his arms and noticed his musky smell and slightly damp shirt. “Have you been to the gym?”

“Err no, the lift was out at work and we had to use the stairs.”

Rey reluctantly freed herself from Ben’s warm embrace. “Have you done it then?” she asked Luca who looked utterly confused.

“Yeah but I don’t think it’s right.” He scratched his head messing up his hair.

“It’s done at least. If you like, I can go through it with you.”

“Nope, as you said it’s done.” Luca said, hurrying to put all his school stuff away so he could forget about them all weekend.

“If he starts getting all his homework correct, someone’s going to get suspicious.” Hanna said once Luca had run off.

“Education shouldn’t be about test scores, it’s about teaching you skills so you can apply them with confidence. Luca does struggle so should get some extra help.”

“Luca also messes about and doesn’t listen. You don’t know what he’s like in class.”

“Yes I do, I have to hear about it every year at parents evening.”

“Well you can help him with his book report. It will probably have to be on ‘Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Loth Wolf’ since that’s about his level.”

“Hanna that’s mean.” Rey said crossly. “After he stood up for you today.”

“Sorry Mum.” Hanna said looking down at her feet, ashamed. Her hormones were making her say things she didn’t mean or at least would never normally say aloud.

“I’m not the one you should be apologising to but I wish you two wouldn’t fight.” Rey said drawing her daughter into a hug, not as easy as it used to be as they were now nearly the same height. “There may come a day when you’ve got no one else to rely on except each other.”

After dinner, Hanna had a much more civilised conversation about what books Luca could do his report on and how to structure it. As it was Friday night he didn’t want to do it then, but he appreciated the help and promised he’d give it a go by Sunday for her to read through.

*~*~*~*

Rey hummed as Ben slid his hand under her sleeping top and gently caressed her bare skin. “Does Benny want something?”

“Only if my Rey-Rey does.” he said matching her flirty tone.

She sighed as his hand slipped under her waist band. It had been ages since they had both been up for it, and today had been a pretty good day.

“Okay, but we are going to have to be quiet because of B.B.”

B.B. was a good baby who could sleep through the night and was too young to remember anything if he saw something.

Rey quietly giggled in anticipation as Ben rolled gently on top of her. His soft black hair fell forward, tickling her face as he gave her slow passionate kisses.

Yes, today was a good day.


	8. Chapter 8

Ben left earlier than he usually would if he was going to work to keep up the illusion that he was going on a training course out of town. The only ones to say goodbye were Rey and IG-99, the kids were still asleep and only grunted when he stuck his head round their doors.

The coordinates he’d been given were for an industrial estate on the very edge of town. There was always a steady flow of traffic, workers and deliveries going to and from the place meaning that any secret meetings would go pretty much unnoticed.

Over the weekend Ben had tried to do as much research into the First Order as he could but he came up empty handed, which wasn’t surprising given that it was a top secret organisation. He also compiled everything that he himself had on Sidious, now that he knew his name. All the sightings, all the police reports, everything he and Finn had witnessed over the past two years.

He contemplated telling his friend about his mysterious message but thought better of it. If the First Order wanted Finn’s help, they would have found a way to contact him as well. Besides, even though Finn accompanied Ben on their Wednesday night steak outs and hadn’t told Rey what they were really up to, that didn’t mean he approved of reliving the glory days, not now that he had settled down with a nice man and had a good job that he enjoyed.

Ben parked his speeder discreetly where he knew it wouldn’t be disturbed until he got back, and changed. Over the weekend he had also been through all the old boxes in his office. He hadn’t been through them in ages, they never got unpacked, just followed them through each successive move, and found things that brought back so many memories. He tried not to get side tracked as he dug out his Jedi robes and his lightsaber. The First Order was expecting a Jedi, Ben needed to dress the part.

Ben made his way to the exact spot the coordinates referred to on foot, sticking to the shadows. There was a medium sized shuttle waiting for him with the stiff looking man from the holocron standing at the bottom of the boarding ramp. Taking one last look around him to make sure he hadn’t been spotted, Ben made his way to the shuttle.

“You’re late.” Hux snapped, and before Ben could answer, scanned his face with a bright red light. “Your identity is verified. Please step aboard the shuttle.”

Ben followed Hux up the boarding ramp into a small but smartly furnished, windowless lounge. Everything was black and grey with hints of red.

“Take a seat.” Hux said before using an intercom to tell the unseen pilot to take off.

“How come there are no windows?” Ben asked looking around at the rather sterile room as he felt the hum of the engines through his seat.

Hux put down his data pad, a serious and rather sour expression on his face. “Our base of operation is top secret and its location need to know. To that effect I need any and all communication devices that you have brought with you.”

Ben reluctantly handed his communicator over. Before he’d left, he’d promised Rey that he would call her when he got there but now he’d have to say he forgot and hope that she wasn’t too mad at him.

Hux locked the communicator away in a small metal box and went back to his data pad.

“So,” Ben said slowly, thinking about initiating a conversation considering he was on his way to an unknown location for an unknown amount of time and he had nothing else to do. “Are you going to tell me why I’m here?”

Hux didn’t even look up this time. “Please keep all questions until we reach our destination.”

Ben sighed and leaned his head against the back of the seat. He didn’t want to sit in awkward silence with some man that he didn’t know but wanted to work with.

“What do you think of me?” he asked.

“I beg your pardon?” Hux said crisply, data pad falling into his lap.

“I get the feeling that you don’t particularly like me. Is it because I am, was, a Jedi? Which I don’t really get because you previously worked with this Sidious.”

“Who says he was a Jedi?”

Interesting, thought Ben, but he said. “He uses the Force, I’ve seen him do it.”

“Ha, the Force. That mystical thing that makes you think you’ve got power over the rest of us.” Hux said harshly.

“I don’t think that.” Ben said. “We were there to protect not -”

“Not choke, shock and read minds?”

“Is that what Sidious did before he left?” he asked. What Hux had described was akin to torture, no wonder they needed help taking him down.

“I,” Hux looked like he shouldn’t have said anything. “I’d rather we continue this journey in silence, thank you.”

Ben may have dozed off, but he used the excuse that he was just meditating when they finally got to the First Order headquarters. Hux looked rather disgusted, he’d probably been snoring, Rey always kicked him for doing that.

They had landed in a hanger so huge that Ben couldn’t see outside so still had no idea where he was. At the bottom of the boarding ramp was a small sort of welcoming committee, though only one of them had their face showing, an older man who looked just as serious as Hux did. This rest were part of some sort of security force, covered head to toe in white plastoid body armour.

“Welcome Master Solo. My name is Pryde and I am in charge of the operation at this base.” said the older man. He had a military air about him and his uniform was crisp and sharp. “I bet you’re wondering why we’ve asked you here.”

Ben barely got an answer out before Pryde continued. “We’ll get to that in due course, but first I’d like to give you a tour of our facility.”

“Ben just followed along as he was shown hangers and training rooms and assembly plants. Pryde took the lead with Hux a step behind him and they were flanked on either side by security personnel.

“What we specialise in here Master Solo is security consultancy.” Pryde was saying. “You will have noticed our elite Stormtrooper unit, highly trained and skilled, but we are working on something that could surpass even them.”

“Droids?” Ben said looking out across the vast assembly line.

“Security droids.” Pryde said with pride. “Faster, stronger, more accurate and, in the long run, more cost effective.”

“I can see all that, but what has this got to do with me?” Ben asked.

Pryde’s expression became more downcast. “Well. We’ve hit a snag in the programming.”

“Still don’t see what this has to do with me. I’m not especially talented when it comes to programming.”

“No you are perfect. You see we have a way of uploading a person’s skills into a droid’s programming. And who acted as a well disciplined and effective security force for thousands of years?”

“The Jedi.” Ben said, some things now becoming clearer to him. “I that it that’s what Sidious was going to do for you before -”

“Yes,” Pryde interrupted. “I think it’s time to talk about him, somewhere a little more private.”

They went into a small conference room which was bare apart from a sleek metal table and straight backed chairs. Just Pryde, Ben and Hux, the stormtroopers stayed outside.

“Some years ago, Sidious came to us and offered up his services in exchange for keeping his Force sensitivity a secret. He had a brilliant mind, could always see the bigger picture and was five steps ahead of everyone else.” Pryde said.

“So he was a Jedi. Would I have known him?” Ben asked.

“Maybe, but I can’t help you, he never gave us any other name.”

“What happened?” Ben couldn’t imagine anyone he had known doing what he knew Sidious had done.

“Have you heard of the Sith Master Solo?” asked Pryde.

Ben almost laughed. “They’re a myth, made up to make younglings behave.”

“Then what would you call this?” Hux handed Pryde a holopad and he got up a video. Ben watched the carnage unfold on the surveillance footage, all the lightning and death. “It’s taken us years to rebuild and pushed our droid programme back.”

“He’s on the loose.” Ben said still in shock. What he’d seen on the footage was worse than anything he’d seen in real life. “Have you warned the inquisitors?”

“What would they do?” The inquisitors may scare Ben but were probably insufficient if you had a private army. “We have been keeping an eye on him just like you have.”

“Have you got a plan to stop him?” asked Ben.

“Yes. We are going to finish programming the droids then use them to stop him. He’s too powerful for traditional methods. This way we reduce the risk to organic life and it shows the world at large what our droids can do. But none of it will be possible without your help Master Solo. What do you say?”

It didn’t take Ben very long to think about it. He wanted to help even if it was going to be less involved than he’d initially hoped, but that made it less risky so it was actually better. Plus he was also making the city safer for his children and of course the much needed financial incentive.

“I’ll do it.”

“Excellent.” Pryde said clapping his hands together. “As you can imagine, we are eager to get started as soon as possible. The initial process should only take a couple of days, then we’ll get you back in a couple of weeks for testing.”

Ben just nodded as he followed Pryde out of the conference room. He wished there was a way to contact Rey to tell her he was fine and that things were going well. They did used to communicate through their bond but they’d had to close that when the twins were born.

“How have things been for you since the Jedi temple was closed?” Pryde asked, the personal nature of the question surprising Ben.

“I’ve -” he started. He didn’t really know how to answer but he knew he didn’t want to mention Rey or the children.

“Of course it must have been difficult being thrown into a life that you didn’t know, weren’t trained for.”

“Yes but I’ve found jobs, nothing I particularly enjoyed but there’s always been food on the table.”

“Good, good. Do you ever see anyone from back then?” Pryde asked and Ben could definitely tell he was digging for information. “Old friends, your uncle?”

“No.” he lied but not about his uncle. He couldn’t put his finger on it but he wanted to keep Finn and Rey out of First Order business.

“Shame. We could use the extra help.”


	9. Chapter 9

“There we go, I’m done.” Luca said triumphantly.

“No you’re not.” said his sister. “You’ve written two lines.”

They were sat at the table doing a family history project together. They were meant to write a little bit about each family member going back a couple of generations. Luca was taking ‘a little bit’ a bit too literally.

“I’ve got all the main points there.” He cleared his throat like he was about to do a dramatic reading. “ _ Mum was abandoned in the desert as a little girl. She is very good at fixing things and has worked as a mechanic. She married Dad and had twins. She’s not working at the moment because she’s looking after the baby. _ ”

“Is that really all you can say about me?” Rey asked. She was sitting on the floor playing with B.B. She suddenly felt a bit empty. Was that all her life boiled down to, those four sentences? Sure, she could chalk it up to the fact that her son who liked to do the bare minimum had written it, but could she add anything else?

“Well I can’t write about the most exciting and interesting part can I?” Luca said.

“No you can’t and I wish you wouldn’t say the stuff about the desert either.” Rey said. She tried not to think back on her old lives, the one of the sad, hungry child alone in the desert or her years in the Jedi temple after Master Luke had found her that ended in disaster. This was her life now, one with a family.

“So I’m done then.” Luca said getting up from the table. “Call me when dinner’s ready.”

“We are not done.” Hanna said incredulously.

“ _ I _ am. I’ve done Mum’s half of the family, you do dad’s and as we know nothing about that set of grandparents, I’m done.” Luca said looking pleased with himself.

“Mum! Tell him that’s not fair!” Hanna cried.

“She’s right Luca.” Rey said sternly. “Why don’t you do Grandma? There’s plenty you can write about her.”

Luca’s face went from sulky to one of mischief, the look he always used when he thought of a way round things.

“And don’t just copy her holobio.” Rey warned.

“Fine. I’ll do B.B.” Luca said sitting back down. Rey and Hanna both rolled their eyes. Hanna had known ever since their teacher let them work together that she would be doing most of the work.

“ _ B.B. is our baby brother. He is ten months old and his favourite thing to do is roll around on the floor. B.B. is short for _ -”

There was a knock at the door.

“Yes.” Luca cheered. “You said I only had to work until Uncle Finn got here.”

“Yes I did say that, but please set the table.” Rey said. It was Wednesday night. Ben still wasn’t back from his training course and Finn’s husband Poe was working all hours getting ready for some society wedding his company was organising, so Rey had invited Finn over for dinner so neither of them would be on their own.

“Look at you , you’re a big bean.” Finn said, scooping B.B. up off the floor. B.B. giggled and grabbed Finn’s nose making him talk in a funny voice that made B.B. laugh more. “Thanks for inviting me. We really don’t do anything just the two of us.”

Rey took B.B. back. “It’s not just the two of us. We’ve got these three.” Luca gave a wave from the dining table. He had laid it but Hanna was correcting him.

“You know what I mean.” his voice dropped to a whisper. “Still no word?”

“Not yet.” Rey was getting a little worried that she hadn’t heard anything from Ben. This was one of only a few times they had been apart in the last fifteen years and she felt weird without her other half. It wasn’t like him not to check in.

“I’ll call the office in the morning to -” Rey’s communicator went off with a loud beep. “Oh good. That’s Ben now, he’s on his way back.”

They had finished eating by the time Ben got home wearing an apologetic look and carrying a large bouquet of flowers, not cheap ones either, that made any nagging feelings Rey had melt away.

“I’m so sorry.” he said. “My communicator broke and I couldn’t get it fixed until the course was over.”

“That’s alright. Let me go get water for these and get you some leftovers.” Rey said as she took the flowers into the kitchen.

As soon as she was out of ear shot. Finn grabbed him by the shoulder. “You’re lying.”

“Let’s go out and I’ll tell you.” Ben muttered.

“Oh no. If you can’t tell your wife where you’ve been I don’t want to know. I don’t want to have to keep another secret from her.”

They were glaring at each other when Rey came back into the room with her new flowers. “Don’t these look so pretty Finn? Thank you so much Ben. IG’s bringing your dinner through.”

Rey went and put the flowers in the middle of the dining table. Luca sneezed.

“Just so you know what I’m doing is for her, it’s for them.” Ben said and he gave him a curt nod.

Ben sat down to have his dinner which was a little awkward because everyone had finished and were just watching him.

“Considering that you’re all here and it is related to our homework, please can you tell us what it was like in the Jedi temple.” begged Luca.

“Luca,” Rey warned. “It has nothing to do with your homework. You’d be better off finding out what Daddy learnt on his training course.”

“But it’s family history and I don’t want to be a boring office manager, no offence Dad.”

“I think we should hear about it. What did you learn on your training course Ben?” Finn asked and that got him a swift kick under the table.

“Well Luca,” Ben said thoughtfully. “Most of the time when we were your age, we went to lectures; history, physics, geography.”

“Ben.” Rey warned.

“But what about the fun stuff, like making lightsabers and fight training?” Luca asked ignoring his mother.

“There was some of that but it was mainly about the theoretical side of it.”

“At least in public school teachers retire. We had one teacher who was literally one hundred years old, and spent weeks going over the same three pages of the textbook because he couldn’t remember what he’d previously taught.” Finn chimed in.

“And don’t forget the hours in the library pouring over texts that may or may not actually mean anything.” said Ben.

“Okay, I see what you’re doing.” said Rey. They were leaning on Luca’s hatred of classroom based learning to put him off asking more questions.

“Doesn’t sound too bad.” said Hanna who had always been studious.

Luca groaned. “Well you can do all the boring book stuff while I do the cool action stuff.”

“Congratulations. Between the two of you, you have the makings of a half decent Jedi.” Ben said dryly.

“But I don’t want to be a Jedi.” Hanna said.

“Don’t worry sweetie, you won’t be.” Rey said knowing it was more of a comfort to her daughter than eldest son. “Now, no more talk of this tonight.”

“But -” Luca started to argue, but she sent him a warning look.

*~*~*~*

It was much later. Finn had gone home, the twins were in their rooms and would hopefully go to sleep at a reasonable time, but B.B. was being fussy. He didn’t cry but he wouldn’t settle and didn’t let go of Ben when he tried to put him down.

“Looks like you’re going to be reading ‘The Very Hungry Nihilus’ again.” Rey said handing him the book. He didn’t end up reading, B.B. just turned the pages and looked at the pictures of Nihilus eating bigger and more ridiculous things.

“I’ve got the rest of the week off.” Ben said.

“Really?” Rey said, finishing up her nightly skin care routine. She was surprised. “You hardly ever have time off.”

Ben shrugged. “I didn’t see much point in going in for only two days.”

“No it’s good, maybe we could clear out the office and start turning it into B.B.’s room.” Rey suggested. It was high time B.B. moved out of their room.

Ben grimaced. “I know you use it when you need your space.” she continued. “But you can always just come and sit in here, I’ll try not to disturb you.”

“It’s not that, well it is, but wouldn’t you prefer to move somewhere where there is another bedroom.” Ben asked.

“I mean that would be nice.” Rey conceded. “But I’d rather not take on such a financial burden right now. Maybe when I’m back at work and you’ve got your promotion.”

“Right.” Ben said but she couldn’t quite read his expression.

“How did the course go?” she asked tentatively in case it hadn’t gone well.

“It was fine I guess.” he said. “Look I’m sorry that I couldn’t call you, I really wanted to. It felt weird being away from you for so long.”

“I know darling. I missed you too.” Rey cuddled up to him, careful not to disturb B.B. too much.

“I thought about opening up our bond.” Ben said, his head resting on top of hers.

“We agreed to close it remember.” Rey smiled as she recalled Ben experiencing a very real sympathetic labour when she had the twins. She remembered his pain more than her own.

“Yes, well, you’re not going to be in labour again unless you really want to.”

“No,” Rey said shaking her head. “I know it’s not fair that B.B. will grow up on his own when Hanna and Luca have each other, but I really don’t want to go through it all again. Maybe we can finally get that tooka cat we always talked about.”

“Did you hear that B.B? Do you want a tooka cat?” Ben asked B.B. who was now chewing on his book.

Ben picked him up so that his legs dangled down, showing the baby at his full height. “Why won’t you go to sleep? Mummy and Daddy want to go to bed.”

“Maybe we should just lie him down between us? I’m sure he’ll soon drop off.” Rey said stroking her baby’s soft head covered in fluffy wisps of dark hair.

“I thought you were wanting him to have his own room.”


	10. Chapter 10

Hanna and Luca were both up early on Saturday morning because they had been told that their father was taking them on a hike and nothing they could say was going to get them out of it.

They were sleepily eating the breakfast that IG-99 had prepared for them, but their parents still hadn’t made an appearance.

“It’s not fair that we had to get up early and they’re still in bed.” Luca said. So the two of them marched to their parent’s room and opened the door. Then really wished they hadn’t. They had caught them in a passionate embrace.

“My eyes!” cried Luca as he covered his eyes and stumbled away from the doorway.

“And in front of B.B. too.” Hanna added as her parents sat there gorping at her. She grabbed her half asleep baby brother from his crib and let the door slide closed behind her.

B.B’s face was scrunched up in grumpy confusion at being taken from his nice warm bed. His little fists bumped into Hanna without any real conviction. Then Hanna realised the flaw with her plan; no one had changed B.B. yet and it was sure as heck not going to be her. She braced herself to go back in and gently dropped B.B. on the bed.

“We’re leaving in five minutes,” she said and left her parents sitting there a little red faced.

“Just so you know we weren’t really doing anything, just kissing.” Ben said awkwardly once they were in the speeder having waved goodbye to Rey and B.B.

Hanna and Luca pulled disgusted faces at each other. They were both sat in the back as it was easier than having them fight over who would sit in the front.

“I thought you’d be happy that your parents still liked each other that much.”

“Thank you for staying together, but -” Luca said.

“But having a baby brother is all the evidence we need of your alone time activities.” Hanna finished for him.

“Good point.” Ben conceded. “But what you should know is -”

“Dad please stop talking.” Hanna said rubbing her eyes hard with the heel of her palm.

They travelled the rest of the way to the hiking trails in silence. It wasn’t too busy when they pulled up and Ben got a large bag out of the boot.

“I thought we were just going for a hike?” Hanna asked.

“We are but I’ve got some activities planned as well.” he said easily shouldering the bag as they set off.

“Are you going to show us how to make a campfire, set traps, make a shelter out of branches?” Luca asked rather giddy at the prospect.

“Who’d trust you with fire?” Hanna asked.

“I could be really good at starting fires.” Luca took in the raised eyebrows he got from his father and sister. “Maybe that didn’t come out right.”

They hiked for over an hour following the trail that led them through thick forest and up into the mountains. Luca seemed invigorated by the exercise and the prospect of learning some survival skills, so much better than quadratic equations and analysing poetry. Hanna on the other hand wasn’t having fun, she kept falling behind and would have much preferred the trail if it was flat.

At the top of the rise, Ben stepped off of the trail and into the forest.

“Dad where are you going?” Hanna asked. “We have to stick to the trail otherwise we’ll get lost.”

“No we won’t.” Ben said confidently.

“But there are wild animals in there.”

“So we are going to make traps.” Luca said excitedly as they still hadn’t been told what they were doing there.

“No, come on.” Ben nodded in the direction of the forest.

“This is exactly the type of place a serial killer would bring his victims.” Hanna said, still reluctant to step off the main path.

“Are you going to leave us in the middle of the forest and we have to find our way back home on our wit and courage alone?” Luca asked with a ton of melodrama.

“No we just need to go somewhere secret. Speaking of secrets, what happens from now on stays between the three of us, don’t tell your mother.” said Ben.

“Well that doesn’t bode well.” muttered Hanna.

“Come on Hanna, let’s have an adventure.” Luca said grabbing her arm and pulling her into the forest.

They walked through the forest for a good long while until they got to a large clearing. Hanna wished she had some string or something so she could have marked their path and found her way back, or have someone be able to find them.

When they got to the clearing, Ben dropped the bag he was carrying with a metallic clang. Hanna didn’t think that sounded too promising.

“So what are we doing then?” Luca said bouncing on the balls of his feet. He was raring to go, Hanna wasn’t.

Ben pulled out a grey orb dotted with silver circles. He pressed a button and the ball floated between them.

“What’s that supposed to be?” Hanna asked, eyeing the thing suspiciously.

“This is a training remote. It is equipped with nonlethal blasters.” As if on cue the remote shot at the ground right next to Luca’s feet. “I want you to defend yourself from it.”

“With what?” Luca asked, there was nothing around them but twigs and dead leaves.

Ben got two slender, silver tubes out of the bag and threw one at each of them. The twins looked at each other and pulled a face. Hanna looked at what she’d been given, it looked like a fancy torch.

Luca pushed the switch on his and a beam of blue light shot out the end. “It’s a lightsaber!” he said with barely concealed awe, glee and excitement.

“It’s a training saber.” Ben said. “It can’t cut through anything but it can block attacks.”

To find out whether this was true, Luca cut the blade across his arm. “Hehe, it tickles.” And then, because of course he would, he stabbed at his sister.

“What is wrong with you?” Hanna cried as she jumped out of the way. She then turned to her father. “And what is wrong with you? Why the hell are we here?”

“I’ve always thought that you should do some Jedi training, enough so you could keep your powers in check.” Ben said not raising his voice at his daughter for the way she spoke to him.

“But I don’t want these powers! I thought I’d made that obvious. I don’t want to be a Jedi. The only thing I want you to teach me is how to cut myself off from the force so I can be normal!”

“Hanna, you’re going to have to calm down darling.” Ben said with a quiet urgency.

“Calm down? You’re only saying that because you don’t like the fact I’m arguing against you.”

“No Hanna, look what you are doing.”

Hanna widened her focus so it wasn’t purely on her dad and saw that around the clearing large pointy sticks had floated up into the air forming a threatening perimeter around the three of them. Luca was standing there with wide eyes looking slightly scared. He wasn’t scared of anything.

Hanna’s shoulders dropped and so did the sticks. She sank to the ground with a sob. “See this is why I don’t want the force.”

“It’s okay darling. I think some meditation exercises would help bring it under control.” Ben knelt down next to her and reached out but she flinched away.

“Then I could have just found a holovid at home, I didn’t need to come into the middle of the woods. Please just tell me how to get rid of it.” she said with a sniff.

Ben ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “I don’t know how. Your mother tried once, but she couldn’t do it.”

“Why not?”

“She said it was like trying to cut off a limb. The force is part of you, part of all of us, it’s hard to get rid of.”

Hanna gathered her knees to her chest and tried not to let the tears stinging her eyes fall down her cheeks. If her parents who were meant to be super strong and powerful couldn’t help her get rid of this curse then she’d just have to find her own way.

“I want to go home.” she whimpered.

“No that’s not fair, I want to stay and play with the lightsabers.” Luca said. “I’ll do everything you say Dad and I won’t tell Mum and I won’t try anything at school I promise. Please teach me.”

Ben looked between Hanna and Luca clearly conflicted about what he should do. Hanna felt a stab of jealousy knowing that her dad really wanted to stay, that Luca was the type of child he wanted.

“Go on then stay and play at being a Jedi.” Hanna said angrily making her way over to the edge of the clearing, out of the way. “Just know that when the inquisitors catch you, I’m not going with you. I’m going to go live with Grandma as that is where I could have stayed this whole time.”

“Hanna,” Ben pleaded.

“No it’s okay. I know you want to.”

“We’ll stay an hour at most, then we should really be heading back anyway.”

“Fine.”

Hanna sat with her back to her father and brother. She was glad she’d brought her holopad along so she could read, escape from this horrible day and her situation, but she couldn’t help stealing glances at her brother as their dad walked him through some light saber forms and how to deflect blaster fire. He looked happy. She wished she could be happy.


	11. Chapter 11

Rey noted the marked change in her children when they returned from their hike. One of the main aims of the hike was to try and tire them out but Luca came back more excitable than normal, practically bouncing off the walls.

“Can we go again next week please Dad?” he asked. Rey thought it was a good thing and one she wondered why they hadn’t thought of sooner. It would be good for Luca to have a physical outdoorsy hobby so he could let off some steam.

Hanna on the other hand looked lethargic. Rey had a feeling that she wouldn’t have liked hiking. Her daughter had never liked gym class at school, it made her feel so self conscious. But there was something else that was bothering Hanna, Rey could sense it.

When they had gotten back, Hanna had gone straight to her room and hadn’t come out when dinner was called, so Rey went to get her. They hadn’t allowed their children to access the locking functions of their bedroom doors yet so the panel slid right open.

Hanna was lying in bed on her side staring blankly at the wall. She looked like she was asleep but she wasn’t.

“What’s wrong sweetie?” Rey asked sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I’m tired.” Hanna muttered, her voice muffled a bit by her pillow.

“Well you can go back to bed after you’ve had your dinner.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“I’m not going to let you go without dinner Hanna.” Rey said.

“Can’t I have it in here? I want to be alone.” Hanna asked. Her brown eyes shone with tears.

“I’m sorry we made you go on a hike sweetie, but we thought it would be good for you.” Rey said, keeping her own sadness in check. She always thought that if her children were upset it was her fault, she had done something wrong and she had made Hanna go on a hike.

“It was more Luca’s thing than mine.” Hanna sniffed and wiped her face with her sleeve.

“You don’t have to go next weekend. We can have a girls day, do whatever you want.” Rey hoped she was giving Hanna a reassuring and supportive smile. She wanted Hanna to be happy. She didn’t understand why anyone would want to be alone.

IG-99’s motorised footsteps came down the hall. He had brought food for Hanna anyway. She was his favourite of the children. “One chocolate cake for Miss Hanna.” he announced in the doorway. That was all that he had on his tray.

Luca heard him from the dining room. “That’s not fair. She hasn’t had her noodles first.”

*~*~*~*

Over the next week, Ben was more present than he’d been in years. He was happy when he came in from work, which seemed to be getting earlier and earlier. He would play with B.B. until dinner was ready or look at what homework the twins were doing.

“You shouldn’t be doing Luca’s homework for him Ben.” Rey said when she saw he had a page of equations in front of him.

“I’m not, I’m just seeing if I can still do them myself.” he said. He had to comically hide his working from Luca who was trying to get a peak over his shoulder.

Ben handed his answers to Hanna to check as she had already finished.

“That’s what I got.” she said and Ben lifted his arms above his head in celebration.

“Fine Mr Smartypants. Do you think you can still write about the life stages of kouhuns?” asked Luca.

“Pfft. You don’t need to know about that.” Ben said.

“Then why do I have to learn about it then?”

At night, Ben’s affections became a lot more amorous and they ended up in a sweaty tangle of sheets more than they had in a very long time. Rey felt so content she found herself humming love ballads at random times during the day.

“We really should get around to fixing up the office into B.B’s bedroom.” she murmured in her post love making haze. She was so warm and relaxed that she didn’t want to remove herself from Ben’s big strong arms. They were going to sort the room out when Ben’d had his days off but they’d ended up going out, first to a baby friendly picture house and then the botanical gardens.

“Soon.” he muttered as he nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck.

*~*~*~*

The one evening the kids didn’t have any homework, and Rey checked just to make sure, Hanna was sat on the sofa reading on her holopad and Luca was playing fetch with B.B. He’d roll B.B’s favourite ball across the room and wait for the baby to crawl after it and bring it back to him. It wasn’t the most entertaining game for Luca but he literally had nothing better to do.

“Mum, how did you know we could use the Force?” Luca asked, as he made three of B.B’s toy blocks float up in a circle. B.B. clapped, Hanna tutted and Rey sighed. She was a bit bored from looking up the different sitters she could send B.B. to so she could go back to work and Luca had been very good for the past week, so she indulged his question.

“You would end up holding things that we left over the other side of the room, usually food or toys.”

“How do you know B.B. doesn’t have it?”

“We just do. Me and Daddy know what signed to look for which would have manifested by now but they haven’t.”

“Poor B.B.” said Luca.

“Lucky B.B.” muttered Hanna.

The sound of an unfamiliar speeder pulling up outside distracted them all and they went outside to investigate, even IG-99.

Ben stepped out of a brand new sleek and stylish, two seater, black and chrome speeder, wearing what appeared to be brand new clothes as well.

“This is well cool Dad.” Luca said running over and jumping into the driver’s seat. “Can we go for a ride? Can you teach me how to drive?”

“No, no, no.” IG-99 chanted as he shuffled his way back inside, away from Luca and the speeder.

Rey shook off her initial shock. A brand new speeder. Ben gotten a brand new speeder without telling her, without consulting her.

“Ben, darling.” She tried to keep her tone cheery. Ben seemed so pleased with his purchase and they always tried not to talk about their financial situation in front of the children. “Where did this come from?”

“Garage on fourth. Ordered it last week and I picked it up on my way home.”

“Yes but Ben -” Rey could hear the tension in her voice.

“It’s okay Rey. I can cover this, it’s fine.” he said knowing all about her financial anxieties. “Trust me.”

Rey hesitated slightly but did nod. She’d trusted him when they used to train together, trusted him when they marched out of the temple together, trusted him each and every time they had moved so she chose to trust him again now.

“I’ve got everyone presents.” Ben said deftly changing the subject. He handed Hanna and Luca bags from a popular boutique downtown, somewhere they’d never set foot in, and the former of which raced off to try his new clothes on. B.B. got a blue frog plushie that he immediately put in his mouth and Rey got a necklace.

“Is that -?” she asked as she looked at the rough cut orange crystal. It reminded her of another life, of challenges faced in an ice cave for the most precious of prizes.

“No, it's kohlen.” he said then whispered in her ear. “Fool’s kyber.”

Rey playfully nudged him. She should be annoyed but how could she when he had bought her something so pretty?

Luca came bursting back out of the apartment wearing a new white tunic and brown leather jacket. They were a little large, but what did teenage boys do better than grow?

“How do I look?” he asked while beaming, obviously pleased with his new look.

“Very nice.” Rey said. “What did you get Hanna? Let’s see.”

Hanna handed over her shopping bag and her body language suggested that she didn’t like what was inside. Rey felt sorry for Ben if that was the case, he’d tried to treat them all, but when she took the dress out of the bag, she couldn’t really understand why Hanna would hate it.

It was a soft grey with light pink details along the collar and cuffs. It had a high neckline and wasn’t too short. The shape wasn’t too old or too young. Rey personally thought that Ben had done a pretty good job picking a dress for a thirteen year old girl. Hanna would look very pretty in it.

“I don’t want it. I’m sorry.” Hanna said with tears in her eyes and left everyone else standing outside.

*~*~*~*

It wasn’t until Saturday when the boys had gone on their hike that Rey got out of Hanna why she didn’t want the dress.

“I feel like a monster. I don’t deserve anything pretty.” she said drawing her knees right up so she could cry into them.

“Oh sweetie, you’re not a monster.” Rey said, wrapping her arms around her daughter’s shoulders. “That’s just your hormones talking. They’ll settle down I promise.”

“It’s not that. It’s the Force and making things float. I can hurt people without really meaning to.”

Rey squeezed Hanna tighter. She could relate to feeling like a monster because of the Force. Maybe it was time to tell Hanna the truth. Rey had always given vague answers when the children had asked what had happened to the Jedi Order, never told them how much of it was her fault, but she did now.

Rey told Hanna how she was as a Jedi Padawan, how confident she was in her skills, how eager she was to prove herself, about her dream to be the greatest Jedi Master ever. Then she told her about that final mission with Ben and the train crash and the aftermath. She told her about her feelings of failure and guilt, how she felt like a monster because of the lives she’d ruined. They were both in tears after that.

“Dad said that you’d tried to cut yourself off from the Force, is that when you did it?” Hanna asked a moment of quiet.

“When did he say that?” Rey flinched at the mention of that moment, another moment of failure for her.

“When I asked him to show me how?” Hanna sniffed.

“Oh Hanna, I’m so sorry.” she said and they held each other tight. It wasn’t anyone’s fault Hanna could use the Force, it was arbitrary, but Rey wished her daughter didn’t feel the way she did.

“He said meditation might help me. Do you think so?” Hanna asked.

“We can give it a go if you like.” Rey said giving a watery smile. They moved from Hanna’s small bedroom to the living area where B.B. was playing under the watchful eye of IG-99. The droid took one look at their faces and went into the kitchen to make another chocolate cake.

“Did you programme him to do that on purpose?” asked Hanna.

“Maybe.”

Babies may not know a lot but they are very perspective knowing that if someone is crying they need a hug. B.B. crawled over to his sister and offered her his frog plushie which was soggy where he’d chewed it, then crawled over to his mummy.

“You’re such a sweet little baby aren’t you.” she said scooping him up and giving him a big kiss.


	12. Chapter 12

Ben received a call the next day from Hux at the First Order asking him to come back the next day as the droids he’d helped programme were ready for testing. He’d had to rush into the home office in order to answer in privacy earning him strange looks from his family as he skidded around corners and tripped on one of B.B’s toys.

“What was that about?” Rey asked when he came back into the living area.

“It was a work thing. Something’s come up very last minute. They’re sending me to a conference tomorrow. I’ll be gone a few days again.” Ben said. He was pretty sure Rey would be able to tell he was lying, but she didn’t notice.

“That’s great darling.” she said lightly patting his cheek. “This goes to show that they see you as a valued member of the company.”

Ben got up to leave early again in the morning. His bag packed with his lightsaber and Jedi robes buried at the bottom.

B.B. was awake this time, but the twins weren’t, and Rey held him in her arms as they went outside to say goodbye. He stretched his chunky arms out to Ben, calling out in indistinct baby language that translated to ‘come back Daddy’.

Ben flew his new speeder to the same industrial estate as last time apart from this time he was a little more conspicuous, his speeder a much better prospect for anyone who stumbled across it. But he had come prepared and covered his speeder with a memetic sheet after he’d changed, rendering it invisible. The battery on the sheet should last a good few days which was how long he was away last time.

Hux was waiting for him again at the bottom of the boarding ramp.

“Good morning.” Ben said hoping to get off to a more auspicious start this time round. Hux just grunted and gave him a curt nod.

The shuttle and the take off sequence were the same as last time with Hux taking his communicator and locking it away shortly after the engines engaged.

Ben was determined to be more alert this time. He felt better about himself, less sluggish. Everyday while his family thought he was at work, he was up in the woods training. It felt good after all these years away and what was even better was having Luca with him on a Saturday. Of course he wished Hanna had wanted to join in and that he didn’t have to keep it a secret from Rey, but it was what it was.

“How is the droid programme going?” Ben asked to fill the silence.

“They are ready for testing, I told you that.” Hux said without looking up from his datapad. “Everything else you can see for yourself when we get there.”

“You would rather just sit here in silence?”

“Yes. You can go to sleep again if you want. Just don’t snore.”

Ben sighed. He contemplated using the Force to snatch away Hux’s datapad, but that seemed rather childish, like something Luca would do, and it wouldn’t go down well either. Hux already seemed to despise Force users.

Instead, Ben folded his legs under him and meditated. He sunk into the Force and tried to figure out where they were going. He sensed water and that they were heading west but that was it. If he had a map he would have been able to find his location. Hux couldn’t accuse him of falling asleep this time. He floated a little as he meditated, only kept in his seat by his safety restraint.

Pryde was waiting for them at the bottom of the boarding ramp when they landed with an escort of stormtroopers. “Welcome back Master Solo. Come let us show you what we have been up to.”

Ben didn’t like the fact that they had to walk through the base with an armed escort, that there were guards in every hallway, it made him feel like he didn’t belong. But he worked there now, didn’t he? At least they had paid him handsomely, that was why he’d bought the new speeder.

As they walked, Pryde was explaining the more technical side of the process and how pleased he was at how it had turned out, but Ben didn’t really understand. They had tried to explain what was going on the last time he was there as well, but Ben had never been good at mechanical things, that was always Rey’s specialty. He couldn’t help but think that she might have enjoyed helping to create a line of droids, he’d always thought she was wasting her talents working in a garage.

They got to a large staging where the now completed droids were lined up in uniform rows. Ben had only seen prototypes of the two types when he was last there. Referred to as B1 and B2 he was surprised at how big they actually were, they were as tall as him.

The B1s were thinner with long spindly limbs and elongated cone heads. The B2s were much wider with thick arms and a barrel shaped chest, they wouldn’t be easy to knock over.

“What do you think Master Solo?” Pryde asked.

“Most impressive.” Ben said as he looked into the photoreceptors of one of the B2s. they looked quite sinister but, Ben thought, security droids weren’t supposed to look cute and cuddly, they were meant to be a deterrent.

“Now we have a live fire exercise -” Pryde started to say.

“Live fire?” Ben said spinning around to face the man in uniform.

“As in they will be using a stun setting.” Pryde said to reassure him. “As I was saying, a live fire exercise between the stormtroopers and the Battle Droids.”

Pryde and his entourage started to step away. “Battle Droids? Did you just say Battle Droids?” Ben shouted after them.

“Did I?” Pryde said. It was hard to tell whether he actually meant it as everything he said was always so devoid of emotion.

“You said these were security droids.”

“And they are. But think of the drug cartels and crime syndicates, of mercenary groups, to fight them you’d need a bit more fire power wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes but -”

“It’s just a name Master Solo.” Pryde said and carried on walking. Ben had to jump out of the way as the droids turned in formation and marched towards the arena where the exercise would take place.

The arena was state of the art, where the terrain and weather conditions could be programmed to put the combatants through their paces. Today it looked like a rocky waste land with some sort of compound at one end. The stormtroopers were already there ready to defend it as the objective was for the droids to take the compound.

The arena was full of cameras and sensors that were relaying information to the observation deck where it was monitored by a team of engineers. Ben, Pryde and Hux were standing at the front of the observation deck overlooking it all.

A buzzer sounded and the exercise began. It was shocking how quickly it was over.

Pryde clapped his hands, Hux looked peeved, Ben was stunned. He just stared at the arena as the stormtroopers who had been taken out were helped to their feet and the droids powered down. Hux and Pryde were talking next to him but Ben couldn’t hear the words though Hux sounded cross. The stormtrooper programme was his project and he’d just been humiliated.

Ben was just shocked at how brutal it all was, even without the loss of life or blood, how efficient. He had recognised some of his Jedi training in the droids programming but he was struggling to comprehend it.

Two words that Pryde just said stuck out to him. “Super Battle Droids?”

“Yes the B2s. Don’t worry it’s just a name.” Pryde said again.

Ben shook his head. He had a sinking feeling that this was all much bigger and darker than what he had signed on for.

“With that successful test, I believe we are ready to discuss how to deal with Sidious.” Ben perked up. That was the reason he was here. He still had so many unanswered questions. “We’ll meet in conference room five in half an hour.”

*~*~*~*

Ben was the first to arrive at the designated conference room. It was no different to the other conference rooms he’d been in at the First Order Headquarters, rather cold and sterile with rigid metal furniture. Ben went to sit down, the heavy metal chair making a terrible scraping sound as he pulled it out but no one came to investigate the noise. And there he sat and waited.

Ben didn’t think he had arrived that early and he was pretty sure he had the right conference room but no one had come to join him.

There was a data terminal in the room, a small red, flashing light indicated that it was powered on. Curiosity got the better of Ben and he went over to it. He didn’t really expect to find anything, it should have been password protected, but as he stood in front of the machine, the screen came to life on already open documents.

Ben knew he shouldn’t be snooping, knew he would be in trouble if he got caught, but as soon as he saw the subject of the document, he couldn’t look away.

There was a picture of Rey taken a very long time ago when she was still at the Jedi temple, no older than Hanna and Luca were now. Her robes were baggy and her Padawan braid hung down over her shoulder while the rest of her hair was pulled back into three buns. How young she looked.

Ben scrolled through the document. There were more pictures of Rey from throughout her short Jedi career, articles that mentioned her involvement in some way, even a piece on Governor Sorka’s tooka cat. Then came extensive coverage of the Coruscant maglev train crash, news articles, court documents, official photos and covert ones all focusing on Rey.

Then to his horror more recent images, ones taken after they left. Rey in the market, Rey fixing a speeder, Rey sitting on a park bench. The year she grew her hair long, the summer she cut it short. Luckily Ben couldn’t see any of the children.

Ben jumped at the sound of a door closing behind him. He turned to find Pryde standing there with his hands behind his back, blocking the one exit out of the room.

“What is this?” Ben asked. His breathing had become more erratic the further he scrolled through the document.

“I see you’ve found our file on former Jedi Padawan Rey.” Pryde said as cool as ever. “She is of great interest to us.”

“But why?” The sinister feelings Ben had been feeling creeping in were there in full force. Something was wrong here.

“You know, you weren’t the first former Jedi we’ve invited here.” Pryde rolled four lightsabers onto the table. They were cracked and broken with their kyber crystals ripped out but Ben still recognised them, he knew their owners; Cal, Vo, Tai, Hendrix. They were presumably dead now.

“They were very much like you.” Pryde continued. “Eager to pick up their lightsabers again, but it was information we wanted from them. It took us a few attempts to get what we needed.

“You see, you were our original target, with your mighty Skywalker blood but then we heard about her.” He pointed at the screen which still displayed a picture of Rey. Ben had backed away from the data terminal, putting the long conference table between him and Pryde, hoping the distance would help him think of an escape plan.

“Such raw talent, so powerful and strong. We know that the pair of you left the Jedi temple hand in hand but you don’t even know who she is.”

“She wouldn’t want any part of this.” Ben said. He didn’t know what Pryde was on about. Rey was an orphan of the desert, powerful yes, but no different from the rest of them. Now she had moved on and had settled into her new life.

“I think she will.” Pryde said with a slight hint of a triumphant smile. “And you’re going to bring her to us.”

Ben went for his lightsaber at the same time Pryde pressed a button concealed on his cuff. Panels in the walls of the conference room lifted up and eight super battle droids stepped out into the room. Having seen them in action he knew he had to be quick. They turned towards him, wrist mounted guns unfurled.

Ben used the Force to slam the chairs from the conference table into the droids causing their first volley of shots to be off target, debris from the walls and ceiling raining down.

He only had seconds to think of an escape plan before he was back in the droids’ sights. Pryde had bolted out of the only door as soon as the shooting started. That wasn’t a viable escape route as it led into the First Order base which he now knew was a hostile force, he would be no match for all those stormtroopers and battle droids. But the conference room he was in had an outside wall. Ben’s best chance would be to get outside.

He deflated the blasts from one droid into another. Static flowed through the droid’s body as it went off line. They were firing strong stun blasts, whatever the First Order actually wanted him for, whatever they wanted with Rey, they needed him alive.

He knocked out three others before the remaining droids had marched close enough to him that he could slash at them with his lightsaber. Even without arm cannons they were still coming towards him. If he destroyed all eight of the super battle droids it would be but a drop in the ocean judging by the assembly lines he had seen, but that would have to wait. Ben’s main concern now was surviving.

Ben flipped onto the table and ran its length putting it between him and what remained of the battle droids. Those he’d initially knocked out with deflated blaster bolts were starting to come back online. Before they got a chance to, Ben reached out and grabbed everything in the room he could with the Force and hurled it at the far wall. He staggered at bit with the sheer effort but it had done what he needed it to, the battle droids had crumpled on impact and there was a hole in the wall large enough for him to crawl through.

Not wanting to wait and see what back up would arrive, Ben scrambled out of the destroyed conference room and got his first look at where he actually was. The First Order Headquarters was on the coast, he could see the distant waves crashing against the rocks to his left and a dense forest to his right. The immense building stretched behind him.

Ben knew he needed to get out of there, needed to warn Rey about what he didn’t know, needed to warn someone about the threat the First Order posed, the army they were manufacturing, and he couldn’t do that without a ship. But all the ships he knew about belonged to the First Order.

Ben cursed himself. He was such an idiot to be taken in by them. Why couldn’t he have been happy with his quiet little life with his family? Why couldn’t he keep his nose out of where it didn’t belong?

Shouts from the base behind him made him move. He didn’t have much of a plan. For now it was just to get some distance between him and any pursuers. Ben took off into the forest. Once he was somewhat safe he’d work out how to get his hand on a ship.

The Force heightened Ben’s senses. He knew that he was being pursued by a group of stormtroopers but they weren’t advancing as fast as he was running away. He was on the lookout for somewhere to hide, somewhere defensible, somewhere where he could plan the next stage of his escape.

He sensed something up ahead, he slowed and brought his lightsaber up, not igniting it until a figure stepped out from behind a tree.

Ben’s blood went cold, the hooded figure, Sidious, stood before him.

“Welcome Master Solo.” he said, opening his arms. His voice was harsh and as dry as the leaves around them. “How do you like my little endeavour?”

Ben was stunned. “You’re behind this? But they -”

“They have their own agender, I have mine.”

“You never went rogue, did you? You’ve been working together this whole time.”

“All to lead the gullible Jedi in.” Sidious tipped his head back slightly so Ben could see his cruel smile on a ruined face. “It really is too easy.”

Sidious shot bolts of lightning out of his fingers towards Ben. His lightsaber barely blocked the attack, the containment field was failing due to the power of the attack and the casing was getting unbelievably hot. Ben could feel his power draining away, he didn’t know how that was possible, but when the lightning stopped he fell to his knees exhausted and offered no resistance as his lightsaber was ripped from his burnt hands.

“I’m looking forward to seeing my granddaughter again.” Sidious said menacingly, and before Ben could question what he meant, Sidious sent another barrage of lightning. It coursed through Ben, making him convulse. His thoughts drifted to Rey before the darkness took over.


	13. Chapter 13

While the twins were at school and B.B. was occupied watching an educational baby friendly show, Rey was making her way through the household chores with IG-99. The washing had dried and was sorted and now it needed putting away.

Luca’s room was a mess. Rey sighed. The bed hadn’t been made and there were half finished projects scattered across the floor and desk. She didn’t mind him trying to fix random electronics that he’d found, it was what she liked to do, but she wished that he was able to see them through to the end.

“I’m not cleaning that up.” IG-99 said from the doorway as he turned to go put Hanna’s clothes away in her room. It was much nicer in there, organised and tidy.

“I know.” Rey sighed as she picked up some discarded tools from the floor. Harris wrench, plex driver, lightsaber, bonding tape.

Rey stopped short and looked at the tools she’d just picked up hoping she was mistaken, but she wasn’t. She had most definitely just picked up a lightsaber. It was a training saber. It was old so there was no way Luca could have made it which meant he’d -.

She stalked into the home office where they kept the boxes of Jedi paraphernalia. She tried to keep her emotions in check. How dare Luca go through these boxes, how could he go against her wishes and hold onto this stupid fantasy of becoming a Jedi. They should have gotten rid of it all years ago and been done with it. They should have cleared the room the other week and moved B.B. in here.

Rey opened the boxes and began sorting through them. It was obvious that someone else had been through them recently as the contents looked disturbed and there were indents where things had been removed.

Her heart was hammering hard when she found that Ben’s lightsaber was missing. She distinctly remembered when they packed up these boxes that she and Ben had put their lightsabers in a box side by side on top of their folded up robes. Hers was still there, his was not.

Rey raced back into Luca’s room and threw open all the drawers and cupboards, searching. In the grand scheme of things, taking a training saber wasn’t so bad, Luca couldn’t hurt himself or anyone else, but an actual lightsaber was another matter, it was deadly.

While she was doing this she tried to call Ben on her communicator. The fact that he didn’t answer made her searching feel more frantic.

“Master B.B’s programme has finished.” IG-99 said. Being a droid he couldn’t show expressions, but Rey was pretty sure he disapproved of the extra mess she was making of Luca’s room.

“Put another one on would you.” she said as she pushed aside a box of things no mother would want to find in her teenage son’s bedroom. She wouldn’t normally leave B.B. in front of a screen but she didn’t want him under her feet right now. “And try and get hold of Ben.”

IG-99 came back a short while later. “There is no answer on Master Ben’s communicator. Should I try his office?”

“No I’ll do it.” Rey said getting up off her knees. She needed Ben on her side for this. There was no way that he could condone his son’s behaviour this time. A lightsaber was a weapon and she was no closer to finding it. She hoped Luca wasn’t stupid enough to take it to school.

Rey’s blood went cold as the receptionist at the Citizen’s Assistance Service spoke. “I’m afraid Mr Solo no longer works for us. His employment was terminated a few weeks ago.”

“What happened?” Rey asked. Her voice, everything, was shaking.

“Shouldn’t you already know this?” the receptionist said. The accusation was clear in her voice. “There was an altercation between Mr Solo and Mr Ryder that resulted in the former being fired.”

Rey hung up without another word. Ben had been fired and he hadn’t thought to tell her. Instead he had been spending quality time with them and buying them presents. She had a feeling something was off with him but she had been so easily bought. When she’d asked him about the new speeder, he’d asked her to trust him, how could she now. What had he gotten himself into?

All her concerns surrounding Luca fell away and her main priority became finding and confronting her husband.

Rey began to pace in the hallway. Ben wasn’t responding to his communicator, he no longer had a place of work. There was only one other way Rey knew that she could get hold of Ben. She took a deep breath. When they had closed their bond, it gave them a level of privacy that she didn’t realise they were lacking. But she didn’t care one fig about Ben’s privacy right now, she was angry that he lied to her and she needed to find him so she could have it out of him.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on opening the bond back up.

No sooner had she done so, Rey collapsed to the ground in searing pain, it felt like electricity was coursing through her veins.

“Ben.” she gasped as she struggled to close the bond again before she blacked out. Wherever he was, he was in trouble.

The sound of B.B. crying and the bright light of IG-99’s medical scanner brought Rey back to her apartment. She was lying on the floor breathing heavily.

“All life signs are normal. I cannot find the cause of this collapse.” the droid said.

“No, it doesn’t matter. I know why.” Rey said pulling herself up onto unsteady feet. She made her way over to B.B. and picked him up. “I’m sorry. Did Mummy scare you?” She held him tight trying to comfort herself as much as she was trying to comfort him.

“I will make chocolate cake.” IG-99 said and before Rey could stop him, he reminded her it was time to pick the twins up from school.

*~*~*~*

“Yeah, chocolate cake.” Luca said happily. IG-99 had literally just gotten it out of the oven as they walked in from school. Rey had been quiet the whole way back, her mind understandably on other things.

“No you don’t. You’ve got some explaining to do.” she said as she pulled him towards his room.

“What happened to my room?” Luca asked. He had to carefully step over the bigger than normal piles of debris to avoid stepping on anything. He turned to his mother and saw her scowl and crossed arms. “You found it didn’t you? Just so you know, Karr gave it to me. He thought it was funny, I don’t even like tentacles.”

“Eew!” Hanna said standing behind Rey.

“Not that! Although it will be going in the incinerator.” Rey said and grabbed the training saber from here it had been half buried on the desk. “I mean this. Where did you get it?”

“Ah, that.” Luca said going a little pale. “I found it.”

“Don’t lie to me Luca. Your father has been lying to me, don’t you lie to me too. Did you go in the boxes in the office? Did you take Daddy’s lightsaber?” Rey was trying not to shout but it didn’t work too well.

“No.” Luca could handle being shouted at for things he’d actually done, but when it came to being accused of stuff he hadn’t done, he fell apart.

“Now isn’t the time for loyalty Luca.” Rey said with a sigh. “Where did you get the training saber?”

Hanna answered. “When we went on that first hike. I got one too but I gave it back, I didn’t want it.”

“Dad’s giving me some Jedi training. Please don’t make him stop. I’m getting good at deflecting blasts from the training remote.” Luca pleaded.

Rey ground her teeth. Ben wasn’t taking Luca on hikes, another lie. Next thing she’d find out that he and Finn weren’t really going bowling.

“I don’t know where your dad is.” she said quietly.

“Isn’t he at work?” Hanna asked.

“No, he got fired.” Rey said and a concerned frown appeared on her daughter’s face.

“But where did the money come from for the new speeder?” she asked and all Rey could do was shrug.

“Maybe he’s in the forest.” Luca suggested. “I mean there is a rather impressive training course there. I’m not very good at it but I did learn how to control my falling with the force.”

The forest was as good a place as any for Ben to be but that didn’t explain the electricity she felt.

“All I know is that Daddy is missing and so is his lightsaber.” Just then a seed of an idea popped into Rey’s head. She turned to Luca. “Tidy your room.”

“Come on! I didn’t even make most of this mess.” He argued but Rey had already locked herself in her bedroom.

Rey got up a holomap and projected it to take up most of the room. Her plan was to use the map and her bond with Ben to locate him. It might not work, they’d never tried it before, but it was worth a go. She was a bit apprehensive to open the bond again after what happened last time but she needed to find her husband.

Darkness greeted her as the bond opened, the dark nothingness of sleep slowly waking. A strange weightless sensation followed by a dull ache everywhere. Then an explosion of pain in her side.

“Mum!” a voice shouted sounding close and far away at the same time.

Rey peeled her eyes open and was greeted by the faces of her children and a droid slowly coming into focus.

“Mum what happened?” Hanna asked. “You screamed and IG had to slice the door controls.”

“That’s twice today.” IG-99 said. “You should see a proper medical droid, but I can’t find what is wrong with you.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me IG, something is wrong with Ben.” Rey said stumbling to her feet.

“What’s this red dot?” Luca asked looking at the map. “It’s in the middle of the ocean, nothing’s there.”

It had worked or maybe it hadn’t, Luca was right, there was nothing in that part of the ocean, but it was all she had to go on.

“I’m going to find your father.” she said stiffly.

“Yay, no school tomorrow.” Luca cheered.

“You’re not coming.” Rey said and Luca pouted. “I need to make some calls.”

The first was to procure the fastest ship she knew, the Millennium Falcon. It was the ship that had done the Kessel run in twelve parsecs and she knew the ship very well from the early days of her post Jedi life when she and Ben both worked for Han Solo’s shipping company. He had since retired and the ship was loaned out occasionally by his long time partner Chewbacca.

“Ben’s in trouble Chewie.” she said, there wasn’t time to tell him the whole story.

“Huuurg grrr raaaaagh. Rrraw huuurg aaaaaaahnr aooorgh.”

“Yes Chewie, I will take better care of her than Hondo Ohnaka.”

The second was to Finn to try and get a babysitter.

“Sorry peanut. I’m out of town for the next couple of days.” he said.

“Are you really?” Rey couldn’t help but be suspicious of everyone now.

“Yes, we’re on the bachelor trip to Canto Bight for that wedding Poe’s been planning for ages. It might not be so bad if I could get him to stop working and enjoy himself for five minutes.” Rey could hear the slot machines and music in the background.

“Finn?” Rey had to ask even if she didn’t really want to know the answer. “What do you and Ben do on Wednesday nights?”

Finn paused for a moment too long. “We go bowling.”

“Wow Finn.” she said humourlessly.

“No peanut let me explain.”

“I don’t have time right now. Tell me the truth when you get back.”

Rey really didn’t have time to dwell on it. She needed to find her husband and give him a piece of her mind.


	14. Chapter 14

Rey sighed. She wished she’d made more friends that she trusted to watch her children, but having moved so often she didn’t feel like creating meaningful friendships only to leave them behind again. She’d have to trust them to look after themselves and each other, even though she was now wary of the concept.

“Give B.B. a bath before bed and change him when he needs it. IG can do it but I’d rather you take responsibility.” Rey said as she walked through the apartment gathering everything she thought she might need. “Go to bed at a reasonable hour, don’t invite anyone over and get up and go to school in the morning. I’ll hopefully be back before you tomorrow.”

“So who’s actually in charge? It should be the eldest right?” asked Luca.

“Both of you are in charge of B.B.” Rey said. They had never told the twins which one was older to stop stupid arguments like this one.

*~*~*~*

Ben grunted and struggled to catch his breath. His robes were starting to smoulder and his hair was fried. He hurt all over but he would not give in.

“I’m not surprised that you’ve survived this long.” Sidious said, looking up at where Ben was suspended in the containment field. “Your control of your mind shield is most impressive. But you will give in.”

“I’m not telling you anything.” Ben’s throat was so dry that his words were little more than croaks.

“We’ll see.” Sidious said and sent another stream of lightning through his fingers into Ben. He screamed as the pain nearly over took all his senses.

“My weak and foolish son tried to keep his daughter from me. She is powerful, I have seen it, my true heir. Now you will tell me what I want to know.”

“Never.” Ben spat. It dribbled down his chin speckled with blood.

“Pity. It would be such a waste to kill you.” and he shocked Ben again.

*~*~*~*

The Falcon was just as Rey remembered, the good and the bad. She’d had to quickly fix the drive containment torus before she left.

She could have really done with a co-pilot. She reminisced on a time before the twins were even conceived when she and Ben would fly together. Han had said he’d never known the Falcon to fly so smooth.

Stop it, Rey chided herself. She was supposed to be angry at Ben not thinking back on happy memories. But then again he was hurt and in trouble. She hadn’t dared open their bond again. She just hoped he’d be alright until she got there.

A hissing, wheezing sound followed by one of the many alarms took Rey’s attention away from her husband. “For kriff’s sake.” she said out loud. The motivator had broken again.

She put the ship on autopilot and quickly went through to the lounge area where vapour was pouring out of one of the floor grates. It was non-toxic, for now. She grabbed her tool kit and removed the grate but when she swung her legs down, they came into contact with something that let out a pained cry.

“Show yourself.” Rey said wishing she’d grabbed a blaster as well.

The rather sheepish faces of Luca and Hanna appeared through the haze of vapour. Rey was too stunned to be angry before she remembered the gas.

“Get the hell out of there now!” she shouted and the twins scrambled out of the floor panel.

“I told Luca not to pick at the bonding tape.” Hanna said.

“I could have put it back if you hadn’t started panicking.” Luca said.

Rey couldn’t care less at that moment, she just had to fix it before they all suffocated. There, the alarm stopped and the vapour dissipated. Now to find out what Hanna and Luca thought they were doing. She climbed out and put the floor grate back in place.

“What the hell are you two doing here? I told you to stay at home with B.B.”

Hanna and Luca started talking over each other, blaming each other as to why they were there. Rey pinched the bridge of her nose. She really couldn’t trust anyone anymore, not Ben, not Finn, not even her own children.

“Whatever. Where’s B.B?”

“Well you said IG could take care of him.” said Hanna.

“So we left them at home.” said Luca. “We brought you your lightsaber.” He carefully removed the long cylindrical hint from his bag.

“I won’t be needing that.” Rey looked at it warily but took it anyway so Luca wouldn’t be touching it. It felt weird to be holding it again after fifteen years.

“But if Dad’s in trouble you might, and I can help.” he said as he took out the training saber he had retrieved along with a set of Padawan robes. Rey wondered if she should tell Luca that he was wearing her old clothes.

“You’ll be doing no such thing.” she said instead. “The pair of you will stay on the ship, hidden in one of the smuggling compartments.”

“Don’t you at least need a co-pilot?” Luca asked hopefully.

“No, you should -” Rey was interrupted by another one of the Falcon’s alarms. This time a proximity alarm. Something was heading their way.

*~*~*~*

“A ship has entered our air space triggering the hostile response protocol.” Hux said from a set of computers partially hidden in the shadows of the room where Ben was being held, though he was so fatigued he could barely see two feet in front of him. “A YT model freighter.”

Ben stirred slightly on recognition, a movement not missed by Sidious. “You know that ship don’t you boy.” He started extracting a memory before Ben could stop him. “Your father’s ship. You and my granddaughter used to fly it together. How fitting that she should bring it with her. I’m looking forward to seeing her when she lands.”

“But she won’t land sir.” Hux said.

“What?” Sidious asked and Ben could feel the temperature in the room drop.

Hux swallowed nervously. “The targeting missiles have already locked onto her signal. The ship will be destroyed before it reaches the island.”

“No!” Ben’s mind was in such a state that he couldn’t work out whether the cry was from himself or from, surprisingly, Sidious.

“Call off the strike.”

“I can’t sir. Once the missiles have been fired they only stop when the target has been destroyed, it’s all part of the protocol. If you had -” Hux suddenly stopped, gasping for air. His hands tried to grab the invisible hands that had seized his throat.

“Very well.” Sidious said after a long moment, releasing Hux to fall into a crumpled pile on the floor. His anger had evaporated and changed into something new and ominous. “Bring up the surveillance feed. Let us watch the action.”

“No. Rey.” Ben struggled against the containment field. He didn’t want to watch this, couldn’t watch this. His darling, sweet Rey. He couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything to stop it.

“I know my boy.” Sidious said coldly as the grainy surveillance feed from the missiles got projected on a large scale. “Such a shame, but at least you’ll still be of use to me.”

*~*~*~*

“Kriff.” Rey swore loudly as she studied the readouts in the cockpit and saw what was heading towards them.

“What is it Mum?” Hanna asked. She stumbled as Rey took back manual control of the ship.

Rey didn’t really know what to say. She didn’t want to scare or worry the children, but with a barrage of missiles heading their way, she didn’t have much of a choice. “Buckle in. The flight’s going to get a little bumpy.”

Ever the well behaved child, Hanna sat herself down in one of the auxiliary seats behind the pilot’s chair. Luca pretty much fell into the co-pilot’s seat as Rey took a hard left out of the missile’s path.

“Cool are those missiles? What do you want me to do?” he asked.

“No not cool. Just sit there and don’t touch anything.” She could have done with a co-pilot but Luca couldn’t fly and now wasn’t the time to start lessons not with targeting missiles on their tail. She leaned over awkwardly to turn on the rear deflector shield.

Rey executed several manoeuvres to try and shake or confuse the missiles. A couple of them got too close to each other and exploded. Another hit the rear shield, rocking the ship and weakening the shield.

“We’re all going to die.” Hanna whimpered.

“We’re not going to die.” Rey said through gritted teeth. She knew that she was in no way reassuring. They were all pushed back in their seats by the g-forces of another manoeuvre.

“Why did I even follow you?” Hanna had to shout over the noise the Falcon was making.

“Because we are the Solo twins. We go everywhere together.” Luca said. He didn’t sound as scared by the situation as he should be. “We could shoot at the missiles. The gun turret’s back there. I could -”

“No, you stay right there.” Rey shouted.

“But I can do it. In my holo games -”

“This is not a video game Luca!” Another explosion rocked them from behind and the shields fizzled out completely.

“We could call for help.”

“There’s no one around here apart from whoever’s shooting at us.”

“What are we going to do Mummy?” Hanna said in a tiny voice.

There weren't very many things Rey could do. She looked at Luca and Hanna. Sacrifices had to be made.

*~*~*~*

“Target destroyed sir.” Hux said. The holo feed had cut out as soon as the missile collided with the Falcon’s hull.

Ben sagged as much as the containment field allowed. He couldn’t believe it. The bright spark in his life had been extinguished. He wanted to reach out for her through the Force but didn’t want to face the cold, black void he’d find there. Neither did he want to open himself up in case Sidious pried anything else out of him. Ben began to sob, through pain and anger, sadness and heartbreak.

“Anger leads to pain, pain leads to suffering.” Sidious said reverently. “Let this be your gateway to the Darkside.”


	15. Chapter 15

After a very bumpy landing and journey, the coffin-like escape pod washed up on the beach. The lid decompressed and popped open, three spluttering figures stumbled out onto the wet sand.

“Is everyone alright?” Rey asked, catching her breath. There hadn’t been room to do anything in the escape pod, it had only been designed to hold one person. Rey and the twins hadn’t been that close to each other in fourteen years.

“Yes, just need fresh air considering somebody was too scared to control himself.” Hanna sent a pointed look at her brother.

“I was not scared,” he replied. “You shouldn’t try and stop your body’s natural releases as that can lead to bloating.”

“You’re disgusting.” Hanna said throwing a handful of wet sand at Luca. Rey grabbed him before he could retaliate.

“We don’t have time for this now. Just be glad we made it to the escape pod in time.” They had only just managed it, launching from the main ship as the Falcon exploded around them. She had lost the Falcon, Han’s pride and joy, but she couldn’t dwell on that now. She had saved her children, they were more precious than the ship.

Luca glared at his sister. “Fine. Where even are we?”

Rey didn’t know exactly where they were, all positioning equipment had been left on the Falcon and was subsequently now at the bottom of the ocean, but she knew it was the right place.

“Can you feel that? The Force signature of this place is so strong.” She barely had to reach out to feel it. It was powerful but out of balance.

“Do you think Dad’s here?” Luca asked. She could tell he was concentrating, purposely reaching out with his feelings wasn’t something he was used to doing. Hanna didn’t even try.

“Most definitely.” Rey said. “We need to get off this beach and find cover.”

Much to Hanna’s chagrin, they ran up the beach and into the thick forest that hugged the coastline. It was hard going and they were losing the light. Rey was on high alert in case they were ambushed and also so they didn’t trip over tree roots or fall into holes in the forest floor.

They remained unharmed until they came across a large twisted tree. It was hollowed out and provided plenty of space for Hanna and Luca to take shelter.

“You two stay here. Hanna, you’re in charge.” Rey said, doing a sweep of the surroundings.

“How come she’s in charge?” Luca whined.

“Because you’re an idiot.” Hanna said snidely.

“Enough! Luca, if you wanted to be in charge, you should have stayed at home with B.B.” Rey said crossly.

“You’re still angry about that?” he asked.

“Of course I’m still angry about that, but now’s not the time. I’m going to find your father, then we’ll come back for you.”

“How are we going to get off this island?” Hanna asked.

“One question at a time. Now stay here and stay hidden, I’ll be back soon.” she said and gave her two teenage children a hug that they reluctantly returned.

*~*~*~*

Rey followed her feelings through the darkened forest. She couldn’t be sure if she was being led towards Ben or not, she was being thrown off by the general feeling of the place, but she was following the pull of something strong.

She eventually came to a very large building, so large that it seemed to go on forever in either direction. Rey hid in the bracken, shadowed from the white armour clad guards that she could see patrolling the outside of the building. She didn’t really have a plan, she didn’t have anything on her except her old lightsaber that she’d clipped to her belt after taking it from Luca, but she knew she didn’t want to use that. It was too flashy and would give her away immediately. She also didn’t want to hurt anyone. After all she didn’t know what was going on on this island, they might be totally innocent. Then again someone was hurting Ben and these people may have shot her down.

Rey settled down into the Force, something she hadn’t properly done in years. She used it to augment her speed and stealth as she sneaked into the building where she sensed a blind spot in the surveillance.

She continued in this manner as she moved through the base trying to get her bearings. Sticking to the shadows, Rey passed locked doors to empty rooms, a deserted assembly line and a hanger that she made a note of to come back to later.

There seemed to be a lot of activity at the eastern end of the base that Rey decided to avoid for now.

Rey turned a corner and came face to face with a pair of patrol troopers who raised their rifles. She didn’t have time to curse herself, she had been so careful.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” one of them ordered.

“It’s okay that I’m here.” Rey said, her voice full of quiet strength.

“It’s okay that you’re here.” the stormtrooper echoed.

The other trooper nodded. “It’s good.”

“You are relieved that I’m here.” Rey said.

“Thank goodness you’re here!” said the first trooper.

“Welcome.” said the second.

“I’m looking for Ben Solo, do you know where he is?” Rey asked and was dutifully given directions.

*~*~*~*

“Hey, look what I’ve found.” Luca said, jumping up and down near the back of the hollowed out tree. When he landed the ground emitted a hollow sound. So far he had stayed in the tree like his mother asked but he was bored and Hanna was such a stickler for the rules.

“Stop that will you.” she said.

“I think it’s a trap door,” he said ignoring her. “Here hold this so I can see what I’m doing.”

He threw his already activated training saber at Hanna so she had no choice but to catch it. Luca brushed away some of the dirt that littered the floor to find the latch for the trap door.

“What do you think you are doing?” a gruff voice said from behind them. They jumped and spun around, Hanna brandishing the saber in front of her. Luca was rather jealous that she was the one to do that.

In the blue light of the saber they could see that it was a man with shaggy grey hair and beard wearing a tatty poncho. He eyed them suspiciously. “Turn that thing off before you draw anyone else’s attention.”

“I don’t think I will.” Hanna said standing her ground. Turning off the saber would mean they would be alone in the dark with a strange old man and Luca couldn’t say he fancied that either.

The old man sighed and took some glow sticks out of his pockets. He broke them and threw them on the ground between them, creating a soft yellow glow. “There. Will you turn the lightsaber off now?”

Hanna did so. “You know what a lightsaber is?” Luca asked.

“Doesn’t everybody? Though that one is little more than a flashlight.” the old man said sitting down in the mouth of the hollow tree, blocking their escape. “So who are you?”

“What do we do?” Hanna whispered to Luca but the old man heard as well.

“You can answer my questions.” he said in a stage whisper.

“Leave it to me.” Luca said. He liked putting on a show, telling half truths and fabrications to an unsuspecting public. They didn’t know if they could trust this man. “Hello, this is Han and I’m Leia. No wait, reverse that.”

“Idiot.” Hanna muttered.

The old man snorted. “Very well, you can call me Owen. What are you doing here Han?”

“Well,” Luca contemplated what to say now that he had been thrown off his groove. “Our ship blew up and our mum told us to stay here while she went to find our dad.”

Owen was silent for a while and in that silence it was difficult to read his expression in the dark with the faint glow playing with the shadows of his aged face.

“I’m sorry but they’re never coming back.” he said sadly.

“You don’t know that.” Hanna spat.

“Yeah Mum is really powerful and strong, so is Dad.” Luca said.

“Jedi are they?” Owen asked and the twins nodded. “I’ve seen many Jedi go into the compound over the years. None have ever come out.”

“What is this place?” Hanna asked reverently.

“I came to this island many years ago seeking peace and prospective. I had it for a while but then the First Order moved in and set up this enormous base, throwing off the balance of this whole place. I’ve been hiding in the forest for years evading their bucket head patrol. I don’t know what they’re doing but recently they’ve been ramping up for something big.”

“So that’s what Dad’s doing here, the First Order must have kidnapped him.” Luca said.

“Or he’s working for them.” Hanna said. “Where else could the money have come from?”

“Whatever the case kids, I’m sorry. I really, really am.” Luca was sure he heard Owen sniffing as he turned away to look out into the night.

Suddenly a low rumbling was heard shaking the ground slightly. They all rushed outside to see the silhouette of a spherical rocket taking off into the night sky.

“Something big.” Owen muttered. “Something bad.”

*~*~*~*

“Do you hear that?” Sidious asked Ben. there was a low rumble, like a large ship taking off, just discernible over the general sounds of the base. “That my friend is the sound of the culmination of Pryde’s project, the one you helped him complete. A whole platoon of battle droids making its way to the city. To wreak havoc and chaos.”

“I didn’t know.” Ben said weakly. He was so tired and ashamed. He was so prideful, why couldn’t he see that Rey was right, that their family was enough? Now Rey was gone.

“Join me and together we can take control of the army and usher in a new age of peace and prosperity.”

“Never.” Ben didn’t like the idea of what Sidious defined as peace and prosperity. He would hold out until Sidious finally saw fit to kill him so he could join Rey and return to the Force.

“So be it then.” Sidious replayed the footage of the Falcon exploding over and over, shocking him again and again to get him to focus on his pain and anger, wearing him down so he’d eventually give in and turn.


	16. Chapter 16

What Luca was about to unearth when Owen discovered them was a survival kit, with a sleeping bag, blanket, ration packs and water.

“I keep a kit in all my hiding spaces.” he said. “I need to keep moving so the bucketheads don’t find me. Though I should go get another sleeping bag if you two are going to stay here.”

“Thank you.” Hanna called after him as Owen walked out into the night. Luca scoffed down a couple of the ration packs. He had no intention of staying in that tree in a mouldy old sleeping bag.

“Come on, let’s go.” he said, taking back his saber.

“Go where?” Hanna asked. She’d wrapped herself in the blanket, but was turning her nose up at the smell.

“To find Mum and Dad of course.”

“But you heard Owen. Whatever’s going on here is really dangerous.”

“Do you really want to believe our parents are dead?” Luca asked. Hanna shook her head and looked at her feet. “Anyway there’s something off about Owen. I don’t know whether we should trust him”

“He just seems like a weird old man to me.”

“The Force is inside all living things Hanna, even if there are only a few of us who can manipulate it, but I can’t sense it on Owen. It’s like he’s cut himself off from it.” he said in a more serious tone than usual. Hanna sat up at that. Cut himself off from the Force, how interesting.

“Anyway, I’m off.” Luca said back in his carefree self.

“No Luca, we should stay here and wait for Owen. Mum and Dad will find us.” Hanna called after him as he made his way through the trees following a strong feeling he had.

“Luca! Luca!” He heard his sister shout but he didn’t stop or turn around, not even when he heard footsteps coming up quickly behind him, crunching leaves and snapping branches.

“I knew you’d come with me.” Luca said, sending Hanna a grin that she could hardly see in the dark.

“Shut up.” she muttered. “One of these days I’m going to leave to get in trouble all on your own.”

“No you won’t. We are the Solo twins we need to live up to the irony of our name.”

“Oxymoron.”

“What did you just call me?”

“Our name isn’t ironic, it’s a … you know what, never mind.”

“You there, halt.” said a voice that was slightly distorted by a helmet. Luca and Hanna had been so busy fighting that they hadn’t realised that they had exited the forest and were now in full view of the compound and its many armed guards.

“So they must be the bucketheads Owen talked about.” said Luca taking in the group of six white armour clad guards coming their way.

“Hands where I can see them.” said one of the guards as they started encircling Hanna and Luca with their blasters raised.

“Get ready to run.” Luca whispered so only Hanna could hear him.

“What?” she asked but it was too late. Luca extended his arms and used the Force to send four of the guards flying.

“Did you see that?” said one of the guards still on his feet as the twins set off running.

“Are they Jedi?” asked another.

“After them!”

Hanna shrieked as the first blaster bolts skimmed past them. Luca activated his saber and managed to deflect a couple of shots, one directly into a guard’s chest plate.

“Haha, I’m doing it!” he cheered with glee.

“Luca.” Hanna cried. Another group of guards had come out of a doorway ahead of them and were heading their way. “What do we do? Do you have a plan?”

“You can use the Force, just push them out the way.” he said but he was a little bit too distracted by what was going on behind them.

“I can’t. I’m too scared. I only seem to be able to do stuff when I’m angry.”

In the end they weren’t stopped by the guards in front of them or behind but above. A guard on the second level fired a net gun at them and they crashed to the ground in a tangled mess.

“Be careful of that lightsaber.” said one of the guards as they once again encircled the twins.

“Wait, it's not cutting through anything.” said another.

“It’s not a real lightsaber.” They snatched it from Luca.

“We’ve caught ourselves a baby Jedi.” said the one who gave Luca a swift kick. The twins huddled closer together under the net as the identical, faceless white guards laughed at them. Luca told himself that he wasn’t scared, that he was holding onto Hanna to comfort her more than himself.

A guard with a different coloured shoulder plating approached and the others stood to attention. “Your orders are to take them to General Pryde.”

And with that Hanna and Luca were hauled to their feet and taken inside the very expansive compound.

*~*~*~*

Pryde was feeling pleased with himself. His droid project was a success, a battalion had just taken off and was making good progress as it headed towards the mainland. But best of all, Sidious was now off his back having found a former Jedi he deemed worthy. Pryde didn’t care what Sidious did with Ben Solo as long as Pryde had his droid army.

The peace of his evening was broken when a group of stormtroopers burst into his office escorting a couple of children with binders around their wrists.

“We caught these two sneaking around the base.” said the sergeant. “The boy had this.” He handed Pryde a smaller version of the lightsabers they had taken over the years.

“How interesting. Did they use the Force?” Pryde said not letting his surprise show.

“The boy did.” the sergeant said.

Pryde set the lightsaber aside and got out a portable DNA scanner. The children flinched away as he shone the bright light in their faces. He frowned at the readout. It said that the children had a DNA match to two people in the base’s system; Ben Solo and Sidious.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” he asked coldly. Neither of them answered. The boy stared at him definitely, the girl trembled and wouldn’t look directly at him. She was the weak link.

Pryde gave a small nod to one of the troopers, who then took out his baton and cracked it across the back of the boy’s legs. He cried out as he fell to his knees.

“Luca!” the girl screamed as she watched her brother fall trying to free her arms where they were held by a pair of stormtroopers.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” Pryde asked again. The girl’s eyes were full of tears as they darted between him and her brother, still wary to answer.

“Hit him again.” Pryde ordered the trooper.

“No please. Our ship got blown up and we washed up on the beach. We’re just trying to find our parents. Please don’t hurt him.” she pleaded.

Pryde was very good at schooling his emotions unlike Sidious according to Hux, he was surprisingly upset when the ship had blown up, but these children had survived and they were looking for their parents, plural, that meant -

“Sergeant, alert all the guards that there is an infiltrator on the base.” The sergeant saluted and left to radio his commands. “The rest of you, keep them here. I’ll be back with orders shortly.”

*~*~*~*

Ben was so tired. Everything hurt. He couldn’t tell if it was sweat or tears or blood running down his face. If he hadn't been held up by the containment field he wouldn’t have been able to do it himself.

Everything had been going in and out of focus for a while now and all he could hear was the rushing of blood through his ears. Which is why when Pryde rushed into the room he couldn’t focus on what he was telling Sidious at first.

“Most intriguing.” Sidious said stroking his chin. “What about the girl?”

“Her M-count is as high as his.” said Pryde.

“Good, good. Some good news at last. The chambers are prepared, take them there.”

Pryde and Sidious left Ben mercifully alone in the dark.

*~*~*~*

Rey felt a surge of activity. More guards running through the hallways making it difficult for her to find a clear path through the base to Ben. She thought she’d been careful avoiding cameras, sticking to the shadows and hiding around corners, but from the comm chatter she had overheard, the guards had somehow been alerted to her presence.

When the way ahead became too crowded with other people that it would have been impossible to continue, Rey popped open a ceiling grate and crawled through the ventilation shaft. It may have been cramped and dusty but it was much easier going. She paused at every grate to check that the ground below was clear, she didn’t want anyone to notice the shadows passing above them.

The further she went the more she was convinced that she felt Ben’s presence. It was weak but still there. She didn’t dare open up their bond but she silently said, “Hold on Ben, I’m coming.”

The vent that she was in came to an abrupt end and Rey had no choice but to open the grate and hop down.

She landed at the crossroads of four corridors with nowhere to hide when a pair of guards came down each of the corridors heading straight for her.

“We’ve found her.” said one of the guards.

“Don’t move, put your hands where I can see them.” They circled her with their blasters raised. There were too many of them for Rey to try and mind trick, she’d have to stand and fight.

“I don’t want to hurt you but you’re in my way.” she said calmly.

“How could you hurt us? You’re unarmed.” said one of the guards to her right.

“Funny that, so are you.” Rey said as she used the Force to snatch the blaster right out of his hands and used it to knock out the guard opposite.

Sinking into the Force, Rey anticipated where the blaster bolts would come from and instinctively got out of the way. Because they were in a circle another two went down due to friendly fire.

One of them tried to grab her but even after many years of not practising, she was much better at hand to hand combat and easily knock him out and used his unconscious body to knock another one of his comrades into the wall.

Rey threw the three that were still left into the walls. They hit their heads hard and slumped down onto the floor.

She let out a long breath. The fight hadn’t lasted long but it was hard work, already the adrenaline was wearing off. Why had she always looked forward to the fights when she was younger?

She was just about to leave when one brave and foolish trooper who wasn’t quite out cold, reached for one of the fallen blasters and tried to shoot Rey. she was too quick for him however and had already ignited her lightsaber and sent the bolt back at him.

*~*~*~*

Ben didn’t know how long he was left alone, the only light in the room was from the containment field surrounding him, the rest of the room was in shadow.

The door opened and a thin figure was momentarily silhouetted against the bright light of the hallway before the door closed.

Ben heard footsteps going across the room towards the computer bank and a series of buttons being pressed. The containment field failed and he fell to the ground not even bothering to put his arms out to stop himself.

“There isn’t much time.” Someone came over to him. Ben could only see their shiny black boots but he used the Force to constrict their throat.

“No there isn’t. In fact there’s no time at all.” Ben said, his raspy voice menacing.

“Please.” Hux struggled against the invisible hand at his throat.

“Why are you here?” His vision was clouded with hate. There was only so long he could resist his conditioning, only so long he could wallow in his misery, a pain before turning and giving in. “How can you possibly bring me lower? What more can you take from me?” 

“She’s alive.” Hux gasped. “An escape pod washed up. She’s somewhere in the base.”

“Rey.” Ben said. The fog lifted and he let go of Hux. The light flooded back into him. She was alive, of course she was, he shouldn’t have doubted it for a minute.

“Why are you telling me this?” Ben asked as he tried to help Hux to his feet but the other man understandably waved him off.

“I can’t let what Sidious is planning happen. He’s got your children. They are in grave danger.” Ben felt his heart plummet again.


	17. Chapter 17

Hanna and Luca were marched through the base. The bright lights coupled with the shiny surfaces of the corridor and the white armour of their stormtrooper guards hurt their eyes and they didn’t offer up much resistance.

Luca knew that Hanna was scared but they were separated from each other and he didn’t really know what he could do for her anyway. He presumed that they were going to be locked in person cells, hopefully they’d be near their parents and things wouldn’t be as bad as what Owen alluded to.

They stopped outside a couple of doors. The stormtroopers pressed a few buttons on the access panel to open the doors. Luca couldn’t see anything beyond except pitch blackness.

Their binders were removed and they were pushed through the doors, Hanna through one, Luca through the other. He heard his sister cry out as she landed on the floor, then the door closed and silence descended.

Luca let his eye adjust to the gloom and picked himself off the floor. If this was a prison cell, it wasn’t at all what he’d imagined. It was a really rather large space with a stone structure in it. Luca thought this strange not least because he found himself inexplicably drawn to it but now there was the faint glow of a hologram coming from it.

“Hello?” Luca called out as he stepped closer.

“Come closer my boy. Let me take a look at you.” said the voice of an old man.

“Who are you?” he asked. He looked the hologram up and down. It was indeed an old man, older than Owen, but he wasn’t stooped or haggard. He held himself up right and was dressed in a proud and dignified way.

“My name is Palpatine and I am your great grandfather.”

“What, really?” Luca let out a surprised laugh.

“My son kept his daughter from me and by extension, you Luca.”

“Why didn’t you find us before now?”

“This island is a nexus in the force. It is all around us, the air is thick with it. It calls to people like you and me, bringing us together at exactly the right time.”

“You have the force to?” Luca asked excitedly.

“Of course. I am very powerful. You could be too.” said the hologram of Palpatine.

“I know but there’s the law and the inquisitors. Mum hates it when I use my powers but Dad’s tried to teach me a bit.” Luca finished off with a shrug.

“How interesting.” Palpatine said. It was difficult for Luca to read his expression through the flickering of the hologram. “Tell me Luca, do you feel the power contained in this cave? Does it call to you?”

“Yes.” Luca said. He’d felt a pressure pushing down on him, pulling at him, whispering in his ear, ever since he stepped into the cave. He didn’t know what it was until Palpatine said it then it made total sense.

“Go to it.” Palpatine said, his voice full of quiet strength.

Luca walked deeper into the cave following his feelings until he came to a flat stone wall. He felt compelled to touch it. He lifted his hand to the cool surface and it rippled out like water as the scene beyond it changed.

He was looking out into a forest. It took Luca a moment to see the training course that was camouflage within and the lone figure running it. He watched in awe as they executed a series of gravity defying leaps and came to land not too far away. They turned and grinned at him like they knew he would be standing there.

Luca gasped as he recognised the man in front of him. “You’re me.”

“Sure am kid.” Older Luca pushed his hair back from his face the same way younger Luca did.

“Is this the future?” Young Luca asked in awe, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“This cave has the power to show what you want most in the world.” Palpatine said from behind him. “If you join me I can make it a reality.”

“I get big.” Luca said. His older self was at least a foot taller and his grey robes were straining against his rather impressive muscles.

“Of course. Couldn’t let you stay so scrawny forever.” They mirrored each other with their signature wonky grins.

“Do you have a lightsaber? A real one?” Luca asked, starting to bounce excitedly. He knew he was acting like a right kid in front of someone he thought was cool, but he didn’t care, older Luca would understand.

He unclipped a lightsaber hilt from either side of his belt and ignited them both, one green, one blue.

“You have two!? So. Awesome.” Luca was almost ready to explode. It was all he’d ever wanted and his great grandfather could teach him.

“What does Hanna think?” Luca asked his older self. “I bet she’s well jealous.”

A curious look passed over his older version’s face. “This isn’t what she wants.”

“Of course. I knew that.” It made him sad that Hanna didn’t care. He always felt like a screw up next to her, he wanted to show her he could be good at something. “How is she at least?”

“If you want to fellow the way of the force, family has to be sacrificed.” Palpatine said.

Family ties had to be cut, it was the Jedi way, he knew that. For countless generations, children, babies were taken to the Jedi temple to be trained, never to see their parents again, he knew that. They would take no wives and have no children, he knew that.

“Join me young Solo.” Palpatine said. Luca turned to see him offer him his hand.

Luca hesitated. This was what he wanted, but it didn’t feel right not without his family. He didn’t resent not being able to be a Jedi, not really. It would be nice not to have to hide his skills but his family knew and they were important to him. He remembered his mother had said she preferred her life with her family over life as a Jedi.

“No.” Luca said quietly almost like he didn’t mean to say it out loud.

“What did you say?” Palpatine asked, his voice beginning to crack.

“No. I won’t join you. Not if it means giving up my family.” he said more confidently. “I need to get out of here. I need to find my sister and save my parents from whatever’s going on here.”

The atmosphere in the cave changed drastically. The crackle of static made Luca turn back to the vision of the future. His older self was now cloaked in black, his lightsabers a fiery red, his eyes glowing yellow.

Luca whirled around to see that the hologram of Palpatine had also changed into the twisted and disfigured visage of Sidious.

Logically Luca knew they couldn’t hurt him but that didn’t mean he wasn’t terrified. In a moment of panic, Luca seized hold of the stone the cave was made of and brought the structure down, only just managing to roll out of the way in time to avoid getting crushed himself.

As the dust settled Luca realised he wasn’t alone. “You’re a Darkside user aren’t you?” he shouted into the darkness.

“How perceptive of you.” said the disembodied voice of Sidious with a sharp edge of sarcasm.

“This was a test wasn’t it? To tempt me to the Darkside.”

“One which you failed.”

“Good. Now you know I’ll never join you. Whatever you’re planning won’t happen.”

A cold and evil laugh echoed around the room. “You forget, there is another.”

*~*~*~*

Finally Rey found the door she was looking for, the one with Ben behind it. She could sense him as bright as ever but he wasn’t alone. Her lightsaber was still in her hand and she tightened her grip on it. She hadn’t come here looking for a fight but after her run in with the last group of stormtroopers, her blood was up. She just wanted her husband back.

The door slid open and Rey rushed into the darkened room using her heightened senses to position herself between Ben and what had to be another hostile target.

“Get away from him you bastard.” she snarled at the man in uniform who didn’t seem to be fazed by the lightsaber she was pointing at him.

“You’re just like him aren’t you?” he said in a monotone, unimpressed way. Rey didn’t have time to ask what he meant before Ben wrapped her in a big hug from behind.

“Oh Rey. I thought you were dead. I’m so happy you’re here.”

“Let me go, I’m trying to be threatening.” Ben picked her up, her feet were kicking about, and she’d had to deactivate her lightsaber when he’d pinned her arms to her chest.

Rey turned on him as soon as he put her down. “And you don’t get to hug me either. You lied to me Ben Solo. You lied to me about getting fired. You lied to me about where you’ve been. You lied to me about where the money came from. You tried to train our children against my wishes.”

Rey forced herself to stop there. She wanted to stay mad at him, wanted him to feel ashamed. She didn’t want him to know how scared she was that something had happened to him after she felt his pain through their bond. She hugged him despite herself.

“You really don’t have time for this.” said the man in uniform who had just been silently watching them.

“Who the hell are you anyway?” she angrily asked, igniting her lightsaber again.

“It’s okay Rey.” Ben said putting his hand on hers. “This is Hux. He was helping me escape.”

“Great. Well, if he can get us a ship that would be most helpful.” Rey said begrudgingly. “Then we can go get the children from where I left them, and leave whatever this place is.”

“They’re not there anymore Rey.” Ben said calmly. Rey’s face twisted in confusion. “They got picked up by a group of stormtroopers and they’re in real trouble now.”

“What’s going on? They’re just children.” The panic was bubbling up inside her.

“With a powerful lineage.” said Hux. “Sidious wants to use them to continue his dark legacy and essentially live forever.”

“There’s something else Rey.” Ben said. “Sidious was after me because of my Skywalker blood and because he wanted to get to you.”

“But I’m nobody.” Rey said.

“You’re his granddaughter Rey.”

She was stunned into momentary silence. “But… but I don’t have a family. I was abandoned in the desert.”

“Your parents tried to keep you from him. To protect you. Now he’s after our children.”

“We need to save them.” Rey said, swallowing down her emotions and blinking back her tears. “Where’s your lightsaber?”

It was Hux who handed it over. The hilt was blackened with soot and the casing was cracked. Ben tried turning it on but the blade was too unstable to use.

“That’s very broken.” he said.

“I’ll try and fix it later. For now, take his blaster.” She nodded at Hux. It was a small and elegant weapon but Ben still found it uncivilised. “And don’t think I won’t kill you if you turn on us.”

Hux nodded, not taking his eyes off the weapons. “I’ll get a ship ready for you.”

Rey may have been crazy to trust Hux but at least she could harm him if he broke it.

*~*~*~*

Luca sat on the floor surrounded by rocks, trying to get his head round what had just happened. He was startled as the door whooshed open. Expecting it to be stormtroopers, Luca flung a large rock towards the opening. It stopped a few feet short of its target still in mid air.

“It’s alright Luca. It’s just us.” said the most welcoming voice Luca could imagine.

“Dad!” Luca raced over to the door and threw himself at Ben. “You smell weird.”

Ben let out a small laugh. “And you’re wearing your mother’s clothes.”

“What? Mum why didn’t you say anything?” Luca had been feeling pretty good about his look and had been so excited when he’d found that the Jedi robes he’d found in the box fit.

Rey was busy scanning the corridor for any incoming guards. “Because there wasn’t any time then or now. I’m still angry at you for stowing away.”

“You shouldn’t hold onto your anger Mum.” Luca said sagely.

“Don’t tell me how to feel.” Rey snapped.

“No but your grandpa’s evil.”

“So I’ve gathered.” she muttered.

“He’ll latch onto that anger and try and turn you.”

“Luca’s right Rey.” Ben said. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“He tried to turn me, but I stopped him. He offered me everything I always thought I wanted, to train me, I had two lightsabers, but I resisted. Do you know why? Because I realised that our family is more important just like you always said Mum.”

“That’s really good son.” Ben said proudly patting him on the back.

“Yes, great, but he’s after your sister too.” Rey said. “Do you know where she is?”

“Yeah, she’s next door.” Luca said. “But she’ll be fine. She doesn’t want to be a Jedi, she won’t be tempted at all.”

They stepped over the bodies of the guards Ben had to shoot for them to get to Luca.

“Are they dead?” he asked.

“No, just stunned.” Ben said as he got to work on the access panel. Luca didn’t believe him until he kicked and it moaned.

“Stop that.” his mum scolded.

The door opened and Luca rushed inside. The room was very much the same as the one he’d been in. Hanna was sitting in the middle of the room with her back to them, surrounded by rocks.

“See she’s alright. She even destroyed the weird cave thingy.” Luca called back to his parents. “Hey Hanna!”

She got to her feet silently with an other worldly grace to her movements. She turned around slowly. Her dark hair had come out of it’s bindings and was shadowing parts of her face, but there was no hiding her glowing yellow eyes.


	18. Chapter 18

“Hanna?” Luca came to a halt at the sight of his sister.

Her lips spread into a cruel smile. “Hello Luca.” she said but it wasn’t her voice. It had been twisted and warped, mixed with the voice of Sidious.

“No that can’t be. She didn’t want to be a Jedi.” Luca cried.

“No she did not, but what did she want Luca? What did the cave show her?” Hanna’s head cocked to the side, daring him to answer.

“She, she didn’t want to be able to control the Force.” Luca said slowly. “She wanted to cut herself off from it, but she would never -”

“Oh but she would. The desperate are always so easy to lead.”

“No, you tricked her. Mum what do we do?” Luca turned in panic to his parents who were standing behind him in stunned silence.

“Ah,” Hanna’s arms opened in a welcoming gesture. “My granddaughter, come home at last.”

Rey bared her teeth. “You’re no family of mine.”

A cold laugh came out of Hanna’s mouth. “You cannot deny the truth my dear. I needed an heir, someone I could transfer my spirit into when the time came, through whom the legacy of the Sith could continue.”

“There’s no such thing.” Rey said but she was rapidly losing her belief in that.

“Oh but there is. The Sith all live within me and now inside the body of your daughter. It would have been you. My own son was a disappointment having no affinity to the Force, but the day you were born I knew that you would be the perfect vessel. That’s why they tried to hide you from me and for all their efforts they died in the desert.”

“It worked though.” Rey said, swallowing down some unexpected emotion. Her parents were brave, they had died saving her from a monster.

“It would seem so.” they pondered. “But in the meantime, you did something I couldn’t have planned better myself. By procreating with a Skywalker, you have extended our bloodline and made it even more powerful than before. I couldn’t believe the raw, untamed power present in this body. To think she wanted to give all that up.”

“Her name is Hanna.” Ben said at last. “And you will give her back to us.”

“Too late for that. Her spirit will slowly wither until I have taken over completely. She is the new Sidious, the Palpatine-Skywalker heir. The world won’t know what hit it. The droids Pryde sent out are just the beginning.”

“Then we’ll stop you.” Ben said, raising his blaster. Rey ignited her double bladed lightsaber. Luca didn’t have anything to hold but there were rocks everywhere.

“But that’s the best thing about this body, this face. They are of your darling Hanna. If you kill me, you kill her.”

Ben’s hand shook and he lowered his blaster. No, he couldn’t do that.

The thing inside Hanna laughed. “I knew you were weak.”

Lightning shot out of the ends of Hanna’s fingers right into Ben and he went flying backwards. He had been half expecting it but still landed heavily.

“Ben!” Rey cried out and she raced over to him. She deactivated her lightsaber as she crouched down next to where he lay on his side. He groaned when Rey shook his shoulder, and she was relieved that he was alright for now.

“Well Rey I think it’s only fair that I ask you to join me considering you’re the only person in this room I haven’t asked.”

“I’ll never join you.” she spat, trying to get Ben back on his feet.

“It’s a pity that I’ll have to kill you and your family.”

More lightning erupted from their daughter’s fingertips. Rey managed to get Ben up and they scrambled away, landing in a heap as the lightning scorched the ground where they had just been. Sidious hissed and sent out more lightning. Rey got to her knees in front of Ben with her lightsaber ignited. The blade managed to absorb the power of the lightning but it wouldn’t hold for long, she could already feel the hilt getting hot.

Luca knew he had to help his parents. He threw a rock the size of his fist at the person who was once his sister. That broke their concentration and the stream of lightning. Luca saw his mother slump with exhaustion and his dad catch her. Hanna’s new yellow eyes were on him now.

“You always did like to play hero didn’t you boy.” they snarled. “Would rather hear the crowd cheer your name than take anything seriously.” They turned and pointed at Ben and Rey. “And you two, a grown man holding onto a childish dream and a hypocrite who uses the Force to get out of trouble. Now wonder Hanna was so eager to leave you.”

“She wouldn’t do that.” Luca shouted.

“Oh yes she would. It’s all up here.” They tapped their temple. “All her memories, all her thoughts and feelings are now mine. Unlike you Luca, she didn’t consider anyone else when she took my deal.”

“Hanna, if you’re still in there, I’m sorry.” Rey cried, staggering to her feet. “I’m sorry that you had to do this alone. I’m sorry you thought this was your only choice.”

Tears pricked Rey’s eyes. She felt like she had failed as a mother. Her little girl had been hurting and had made a dark choice, but she hoped that Hanna’s spirit was still in there and could hear her. Sidious was right, they couldn’t save Hanna so the only person who could was Hanna herself.

Rey felt Ben take her hand and stand next to her. Whatever was about to happen, they would go down together.

“You fool, there’s no reaching her now.” They lifted their arms to send another wave of lightning at them. Rey closed her eyes and Ben squeezed her hand.

They felt a rush of air against their faces, heard the crackle of electricity but could feel nothing but the static in the air.

Rey opened her eyes to see that a wall of stone had gone up in front of them, dissipating the lightning strike.

Sidious turned, angry at their failed attack, to see that Luca had his arm outstretched and eyes closed in concentration. He trembled a little with the effort. He had put the wall up, he had protected his parents.

“You.” they snapped, but before they could do anything else, Luca drew his arm back towards him, bringing the rocks crashing into Hanna’s body.

*~*~*~*

Hanna woke from a nightmare to a sharp pain in her ribs and a pounding headache. It had been so horrible, she’d been attacking her parents and brother. There was such hatred flowing through her body but she didn’t feel in control of it.

She tried to get up only to find she couldn’t, her arm was pinned beneath a rock. She cried out in pain, it was probably broken.

“Hanna?” a voice said cautiously. She winced as she turned her head to see that her brother was hesitant to approach her.

Luca could see that Hanna’s eyes were no longer yellow, they were back to their usual brown. “I’m sorry I had to throw all the rocks at you, but I had to stop him somehow.”

Hanna tried to ask who he was but her throat was dry and raw.

“Mum, Dad I think he’s gone. I did it.” Luca said sounding happy but Hanna turned to see the worried looks on her parents’ faces. She couldn’t understand why no one was helping her up.

“I don’t think so Luca, it’s going to take more than a bump on the head.” Ben said sadly.

“What’s going on?” Hanna rasped. The pain all over her body was pretty intense.

All three of them glanced at each other before Rey spoke. “You were possessed by a Darkside spirit.”   
  


Hanna’s brow furrowed in confusion but then it all came back to her; being separated from Luca, the strange cave that drew her in, the kindly old man who offered to take away her ability to use the Force. Everything went fuzzy after she’d taken his hand, but it hadn’t worked had it. She had been tricked and she’d been used.

Suddenly, Hanna felt a cold presence flow over her, flow through her. Despite all the pain she was in she felt the control of her limbs pass to another. The Darkside spirit was coming back.

“Mummy I’m scared.” Hanna said, tears spilling from her eyes.

“I know sweetie, but you have to stay strong, you have to fight back. Remember that we love you.” Rey said but she was already backing away. She could see the change coming over her daughter. Hanna’s eyes went from brown to yellow again.

“Enough!” Sidious roared as they jumped to their feet ignoring their broken arm and cracked ribs, instead using that pain to feed their strength and Darkside powers. “I will kill you now then continue on with my plans for domination.”

Hanna was a spectator in her own body as Sidious lifted their none broken arm towards Luca.

“ _ No! _ ” she cried but there was no one to hear her inside her own head. “ _ I won’t let you hurt them. _ ”

“ _ You should have thought about that before you took my hand. _ ” Sidious snarled back. “ _ Your brother did and now your family will die knowing how selfish you are. _ ”

“ _ No, I didn’t mean to, I - _ ” Hanna said but she had to concede that he was right, she had only been thinking about herself. She had to somehow make this right. She had to do what her mother had told her, she had to be strong, she had to fight back.

Hanna fought to regain control of her arm before any sparks could fly from her fingers.

“ _ Why would you want to save them?” _ Sidious asked her. “ _ They embarrass and frustrate you. They anger you with their dreams of a dead religion. They make you fear who you are, the power inside you. I see it all, the nights you cried yourself to sleep, the times you wanted to run away, how guilty you feel when you lash out. You don’t have to feel like that when you’re with me. _ ”

“ _ You’re focusing on the negative, but I love them too _ .” Hanna said. “ _ Luca may be annoying but he had always been there for me. Mum may have tried to make us suppress our powers but she always listens and gives the best hugs. Dad might still long for the past but he puts us above his own happiness, to provide for us and keep us safe. _ ”

Hanna thought back and brought all her happy memories to the surface.

Her and Luca as small children sneaking cookies out the kitchen.

Luca offering to come with her with a bag of supplies when she thought she’d run away that one time.

The first time she’d read her favourite book and her dad had helped her draw her favourite character.

When her mum had heard her crying at night and had curled up next to her to comfort her.

Every time IG-99 had made her a chocolate cake.

The first time she’d held B.B. when he came home from the hospital.

An old memory of her grandpa sitting her and Luca on his lap while he flew the Falcon.

Luca standing up for her at school.

Mum teaching her how to meditate.

Dad buying her a really pretty dress for no reason than he loved her.

“ _ What’s going on? What did you do? _ ” Sidious cried. The darkness of his spirit was being pushed back, eclipsed by the brightness of her own.

Hanna clinged to the happiness and love she had for her family. This is how she stayed strong, this is how she would fight back, this is how she would set things right, by saving who she loved.

“ _ I die either way don’t I? _ ” she said. “ _ By expelling you, by burning you with my brightness, I save them _ .”

“ _ You would sacrifice yourself for them? _ ” he asked, shrinking away until he’d have no choice but to leave her body taking her life force with him. Without a willing host he’d be gone and so would she.

“ _ They would do the same for me. _ ” she said confidently.

*~*~*~*

Rey, Ben and Luca watched as Hanna’s body convulsed and struggled against an internal battle they weren’t privy to. The three of them held on to each other as at last a cloud of black smoke poured itself out of her month. It blew around the room for a moment accompanied by the sound of screams, then it dissipated and the room was dead silent.

Hanna remained on her feet but she staggered. The yellow colour had left her eyes but so had the light. With no more life to keep her up right, she collapsed into a cold and broken heap on the floor.


	19. Chapter 19

Ben was the first to reach Hanna. He collapsed to his knees paying no mind to the rocks that littered the floor. The pain in his chest was so much worse than anything else he had endured at the hands of Sidious.

She seemed at ease, almost as though she were sleeping, except her eyes were wide and staring, lifeless and dull.

Without further hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her limp form and yanked her onto his lap. Hanna’s skin was cold, her barren eyes stared up at him. She seemed so much bigger and so much smaller than he remembered. He remembered holding her as a new-born. She was pink and screaming, he was so unsure about everything, but when she stopped crying and opened her big watery eyes to stare at him, he felt a sense of calm wash over him, both of them comforted by the presence of the other. She was now a young woman and he couldn’t sense her at all.

Ben pulled her against his chest and hugged her to himself for a moment. He knew Rey and Luca were behind him but he felt an aching emptiness and a sense of loss so sharp and terrible it was like a vice around his gut.

He didn’t want to believe it, his little girl. She had many insecurities that he saw in himself too, but she was so smart and rational that he had no doubt that she would work through them. But now...now? She’d fought off the darkness and saved everyone. She deserved better.

As Ben held Hanna, he sensed something. The tiniest spark, and realised: The Force hadn’t taken her yet.

Rey came round and sat in front of Ben. She felt broken. She was passed the point of crying, she just felt numb. She reached her arms over Hanna, she needed to cradle her baby. Then she felt it too.

She sat back on her heels and looked at Ben. There was a look of hope on his face mixed in with all the sadness.

“I know what I have to do.” Ben said in a voice barely above a whisper to stop his voice from cracking.

Rey knew what he meant. They had read about it in some old Jedi text years ago. It was a sound theory, offering up your own energy, your own life force to heal another, but they’d never tried it, never seen it done.

“No.” Rey said, grabbing Ben’s hand before he could place it on Hanna’s abdomen.

“What?” Ben asked in hurt and confusion. How dare Rey stop him from saving their daughter.

“We created her together, we do this together.” she said. She couldn’t let Ben do this alone. He was already so weak and she didn’t doubt that he would pour everything he had into bringing Hanna back. He would sacrifice himself for Hanna, but Rey couldn’t let him do that. She didn’t want Hanna back just to lose Ben. It was selfish she knew, but she wanted them both. They would share the burden instead and do it together.

“What about me?” Luca asked between sobs. His face was red and wet with tears. His other half had been ripped away, he and Hanna had always been together and had never spent more than a day apart. They were the Solo twins, he didn’t want to be the solo twin.

“You too.” Rey said raising her hand to her son. He took it and sat down next to her.

“What do I need to do?” he asked.

Rey gently squeezed Luca’s hand as she put it on top of Ben’s. “Call upon the Force. Let it guide you and pour some of yourself into your sister.”

Luca didn’t even make a quip about how weird that sounded, he just wanted Hanna back.

All was quiet in the darkened room as the three of them concentrated. The only sound was that of them breathing. Three people, soon joined by a fourth.

Hanna’s diaphragm rose beneath their hands and her own warm one joined them. Her brown eyes lit up with surprise and wonder at what had just happened. She sat up and they all just stared at each other, no one sure what to say.

Then Hanna smiled, leaping up to wrap her arms around Ben’s neck. “Daddy!”

Ben couldn’t help but cry tears of joy as he hugged her back. Rey and Luca joined in as well.

“I’m so sorry.” Hanna said, her voice muffled by the hug.

“It’s alright sweetheart.” Ben said.

“But I was horrid and selfish and -”

“We forgive you.” Rey said cutting her off. Now was not the time to be so self deprecating.

Hanna stayed in the middle of the hug until she couldn’t take it anymore, until she felt suffocated. She felt too full of life, too full of beans, to sit still anymore. She was pretty sure Luca had fallen asleep leaning against her.

“We need to go.” Hanna said bouncing to her feet, surprising her parents and jerking Luca awake. Her broken arm and cracked ribs were as good as new, she felt great. “We need to go fight the droids. We need to destroy this place. We need to save the world.”

Rey and Ben looked at their daughter strangely. This was the most animated they’d seen her in a long time.

“Can’t we save the world tomorrow? I’m too tired.” Luca said curling up on the ground, not caring that he was using a rock as a pillow.

“No, no, we need to go now. There’s no telling what damage the droids have already done, they are on a tight deadline of death and destruction.” Hanna was talking quickly and gesticulating wildly. “Destroying this place should be easy. We just need to reverse the polarity of the thermal oscillator and destabilise the reactor core. I wonder if there’s time to find Owen. I’m sure he’d love to help.”

“How do you know about the oscillator and the reactor?” Rey asked at the same time as Ben asked who Owen was.

“Owen’s a weird old forest hermit who hates what the First Order did to his island. You left us in his house Mother.” Hanna said with a smile.

“Right. And what about the oscillator?” Rey asked again.

“Sidious was in my head and in a way, I was in his too. He built this place. I can see all his plans and schemes, his memories, feel his feelings.” Hanna’s smile faded as she trailed off. Rey and Ben looked worriedly at each other.

“I know everything is all new and fresh in your mind, but you mustn’t dwell on those feelings Hanna, they aren’t yours.” Ben said gently. They hadn’t realised all that stuff would still be in her head and they didn’t want her to fall back to the Darkside.

“It’s alright Dad.” she said brightening back up again. "Since you brought me back, I now have access to all your Jedi training too. All those hours of combat training, everything you ever learnt from the Jedi texts, I know it all. Watch this.”

Ben and Rey watched from their spot on the floor as Hanna channelled the Force and made all the rocks float and dance around the room effortlessly. The rock Luca was leaning on was pulled out from under him waking him once again. He rolled over to see that his sister had formed the rocks into a neat pyramid.

“And how do you feel?” Ben knew that such a feet, no matter how trivial, took a massive amount of energy.

“I feel great.” Hanna said flashing him a bright smile. Then to punctuate this, executed a couple of backflips before taking a giant leap and landing gracefully on top of the stone pyramid she had created. “Tad-daa.”

Rey, Ben and Luca stared up at her wide eyed and open mouthed.

“Mum,” Luca whined but Rey stopped him.

“Don’t. Just don’t.” She didn’t want to hear him complain that it wasn’t fair right now, that his sister suddenly had mastery and control over her abilities.

Hanna suddenly froze like a rabbit in headlights. “Someone’s coming.” she said and slid down the side of the pyramid keeping perfectly balanced. She called her mother’s saber to her and took a defensive position.

“Hey!” Rey said.

“Sorry, but you are in no position to defend yourself.” Hanna said spinning the hilt expertly in her hand. She was right, Rey, Ben and Luca hadn’t moved from their places on the floor. Rey didn’t think she’d be able to stand up let alone fight. Heck, she didn’t even sense that anyone was coming.

The door whooshed open and a bedraggled old man entered, threatening a ginger man in a black uniform with a green lightsaber.

“Oh, hi Owen.” Hanna said relaxing. “We were just talking about you. Luca, you were right about him cutting himself off from the Force because there’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed your Force signature before. Do you want to come blow this place up with us?”

“Blow this place up?” the ginger man said aghast. Owen tightened his grip on his collar to make him shut up.

“I would love to young lady.” Owen said. “And yes you were right. I cut myself off from the Force many years ago, but when I found that you had wandered off and heard that two children had been captured, I knew I could sit by no longer.”

“I should have done something about the First Order a long time ago.” he continued. “But now we can, together, starting with this one.”

He gave Hux a shack. “I told you, I was trying to help. Ask them.” he said and pointed at Ben and Rey. They were glaring at the newcomers, seething with anger.

“Mum, Dad?” Luca said gently nudging them. He didn’t like how quiet they had gone. Turns out Owen was a Jedi too, he could help them, there was no need for them to be angry.

“You see kids, I knew exactly who you were the moment I saw you. How could I not recognise my own blood.”

Luca and Hanna glanced at each other wondering what he meant. Things were clicking into place quicker in Hanna’s mind than Luca’s.

“Hello Ben, Rey.” he said.

“Uncle Luke.” Ben said, his face drawn into a deep frown.


	20. Chapter 20

The ship rocked as it was buffeted by the winds caused by the massive explosion. Rey and Ben sagged against their safety harnesses, still tired from their efforts to bring Hanna back. Obviously they were glad they were successful but they had never felt so old.

Hanna was helping Luke pilot the ship, because of course she now knew how to do that. But Luke, their uncle and former master, he was back in their lives. They hadn’t done anything about him yet, in all honesty didn’t know what to do about him. There hadn’t been time to confront him back on the island. One minute he appeared back in their lives after fifteen years, the next he and Hanna had run off to destroy the reactor while the rest of them limped to the ship.

Rey looked over at Luca. He had fallen asleep as soon as he’d sat down and she’d had to buckle him in like she did he was little, all worn out from a big day out. She smiled softly at him. He was growing up but asleep it was so easy to see the little boy he used to be. Her brave little boy, who didn’t hesitate to save his sister.

“You are now free to move about the cabin.” Hanna’s cheery voice came across the comm system. “We’ve cleared the explosion and are now putting the ship on autopilot.”

Rey unbuckled herself and helped Ben up. He went straight over to a long bench so he could lay down and better rest. Rey left Luca where he was. They’d tied Hux up when they got aboard. He may have been helping them but he was still a member of the First Order. He was surviving the ordeal with as much dignity as he could muster.

Hanna practically skipped into the main cabin.

“I suppose you enjoyed that didn’t you?” Hux spat. “All that death and destruction.”

“It is always a shame to kill. We are all children of the Force after all.” Hanna said in wisdom beyond her years. She sat down on the jump seat next to Luca.

“A shame!” he said aghast. “You didn’t even hesitate. You claim to be of the light but you kill all the same.”

“You’re not a good man Hux. Neither was anyone in that base. I thought you’d be happy that you were spared and Pryde is dead. He killed your cat.”

“Get out my head.” Hux hissed.

“My not in your head. But the guy who’s been in your head was also in mine so now I have access to everything in his head which means I have access to everything in yours.” Hanna gave him a quick grin.

“Just leave him alone Hanna.” Rey said. “We’ll hand him over to the authorities when we land and explain what’s happened.”

Rey couldn’t deal with much right now. She was tired but she couldn’t relax enough to properly rest. Instead she set about repairing Ben’s lightsaber. The casing needed some work and the crystal had a crack in it making it unstable, but she had an idea of how to fix it. It was a good thing that the ship they had borrowed had an extensive range of tools and spare parts.

Hanna pulled a face that was part mischief, part boredom and undid Luca’s safety harness. He fell forward and woke up as he crashed to the floor face first.

“Hanna!” Rey cried.

“I’m bored.” Hanna said as Luca rolled over moaning.

“Why don’t you meditate?” Rey realised she was probably going to have to get used to this. It seemed that Hanna wasn’t the quiet little girl anymore, she had gained a confidence she didn’t have before when she embraced her new powers and now she would need an outlet for that.

Hanna folded her legs underneath her without any argument and with no guilt that she had just made her brother fall over.

“Are you okay Luca?” Rey asked as Hanna closed her eyes and a peace washed over her. He grunted and tried to sit up but gave up.

“If you could heal things with the Force and bring them back from the dead, why did you not bring back my rock lizard?” Luca asked.

“I didn’t like that thing.” Ben muttered. Rocky the rock lizard always bit him when he had to clean his cage when Luca didn’t want to. Rey nudged him, hard.

“Shush. I know you loved the little guy but would you really have given up some of your Life Force for a rock lizard?” She put down the delicate tools she was working with. She was also keeping an eye on Hanna who was now floating about a foot off the seat and seemed to be doing something with her hair.

“Well…” Luca started, then something dawned on him. “Wait, am I going to die sooner than I would have?”

“I don’t know.” Ben said. He would have gladly given up all his Life Force to save Hanna, but what would happen now that he’d shared the burden with Rey and Luca?

“Maybe. But don’t worry about that now. Just be glad you still have a sister.” Rey said quickly. She didn’t know the answer either. As long as she lived to see B.B. grow up, that would be fine with her.

Luca turned to his sister and frowned. She had just come out of her meditative state and was sitting normally on the seat. “You better appreciate this.”

“I’ll give the best speech at your funeral.” Hanna said, but not unkindly then quickly changed the subject.

“Look Mum, I used the force to do my hair. It’s just like you used to have it.”

Indeed Hanna’s dark hair was pulled back into three buns with a Padawan braid just behind her ear. She flicked it behind her shoulder. “Although, let’s be honest, I don’t really need this do I?”

Before Rey or Ben could chastise such a frivolous use of the force, Luke finally made his way through from the cockpit. He did have the decency to look sheepish as he took his own seat. Ben and Rey pointedly ignored him. Rey concentrated on the lightsaber, Ben stared at the ceiling. All was quiet and awkward.

“Quite a kid you’ve got here.” Luke said after coughing to break the silence. Ben and Rey continued to ignore him, not even looking in his direction.

“Not that remarkable. Everything she’s now able to do came from some kind of memory transfer thing when we brought her back to life.” Luca said sulkily. He was still on the floor but had at least managed to sit up now.

“How interesting.” Luke said, stroking his beard. Hanna had told him what had happened but she talked so fast, he had trouble keeping up. “Was it the Force Transfer as described in the Jedi texts? I would like to see -”

Luca interrupted. “It’s not fair. Hanna never wanted to be a Jedi but now she’s like a master at it and enjoying it. Will you teach me Uncle Luke?” Hanna sent her brother a smug look.

“I’d hardly say Master.” Luke said, but he had never seen such control of the Force from one so young, not even her parents. “If what you’re telling me is true, she only has the memories of a Knight and a Padawan.”

Rey gritted her teeth as she tightened a screw. She could have been a Jedi Knight, she was so close to taking her trials when everything hit the fan. And Ben could have been Master as well, it was only Luke variety that was holding him back. He didn’t want to be outshined by his own nephew. Or at least that was how Ben saw it.

“No you are right Luca.” Hanna said. “I never wanted to be a Jedi but now I can see the appeal. I just need to make up my mind now. I did just want to work in a quite archive somewhere with no one to bother me, but now I feel so much more confident in myself, I could do anything. Obviously there is still the law banning Jedi, but I could be a pilot. I was named after the greatest pilot in the galaxy you know.”

“I was named after you.” Luca whispered to Luke.

“No, that is just a coincidence.” Ben said, finally sitting up. “You were named after Leia. She was there for us. She didn’t run away.”

“Ben -” Luke said in a calm voice, but his nephew wasn’t listening.

“No. When everything went wrong, when we were told to leave the temple, when we needed you most, you disappeared.” Ben leaned forward, his hand gripping the edge of the bench.

“Ben -”

“Do you know how difficult it was? No one knew what to do. I had to watch people break down at the thought of leaving the only family and home they had ever known. I was lucky I know, but so many others weren’t.” Rey knew how Ben felt, she felt it too, and she let him rant. Luke disappearing was a more personal betrayal for Ben.

“Ben, I’m sorry.” Luke said, as Ben had paused long enough for him to say more than one word.

“I’m sure you are.” Ben spat and crossed his arms in a huff.

“Is that what we look like?” Luca whispered to Hanna but she shushed him.

“Go on then Luke,” Rey said. She didn’t look up from her work. “Why did you leave? Why didn’t you go down like the rest of us?”

Luke sighed. “I can’t really explain it. I could feel so much anger and pain at the time that I couldn’t concentrate on anything else. I locked myself away to meditate hoping things would become clearer, that the Force would tell me what to do. But the only thing that called to me was the island. I tried to push past it but I couldn’t see anything else, just a place for me to exile myself to. And I left, my failure complete.”

Ben and Rey still couldn’t look at Luke. He told them the truth but it didn’t mean they had to forgive him.

“But you’re coming back with us now aren’t you?” asked Luca. “You can make it up to people and yourself.”

“Yeah kid, I hope so.” Luke said, looking wearily at his two former pupils. Rey gave the slightest nod. They had a lot to talk about as a family when they got home.

“So Uncle Luke, it’s nice and all having access to years worth of training and everything, but is there any way to get rid of memories?” Hanna asked almost sweetly.

“Do you mean all the stuff from Sidious? I don’t think it’s good for you to have the memories of four people plus yourself inside your head, especially with all that Darkside knowledge. But I will admit that your potential to achieve true balance in really -”

“No, not that exactly.” Hanna stopped him. “I mean I don’t want to know about all the times my parents were... intimate.”

“Oh no.” Ben and Rey cried together. They hadn’t thought of that but if Hanna had all their memories of their Jedi training, it made sense that she could see all their other memories as well.

“I don’t want to know what happened on Endor, but I do.” Hanna said.

“What happened on Endor?” Luke asked without realising that he probably shouldn’t ask.

“You're looking at her.” Hanna said, then nodded at her twin brother. “Him as well.”

Luke nodded sagely, his mouth drawn in mild disapproval. “Did you even wait a year?”

Ben had his head in his hands. “Shut up. You don’t get to dictate what we do anymore.”

“Did we tell you we’ve got a baby brother as well?” Hanna said. “Speaking of, I don’t mind seeing the cute things we did as kids, but most of it is embarrassing. And I especially don’t want to know that my brother actually does like tentacles.”

“What?” It is Ben’s turn to ask.

“I found something in our son’s room.” Rey said. She had honestly forgotten about that and she mentally added it to the list of things they needed to sit down and talk about when they got home.

Luca was bright red. “I told you, it was Karr’s.”

“That’s true at least.” Hanna said.

“You’re going to be really annoying about this shared memory thing aren’t you?” Luca glared at Hanna.

“No.” she said in a way that really meant yes.

“We’ll have to look into that.” Luke said. It was probably best that they stop talking about otherwise Hanna was going to bring up everyone’s private thoughts.

Rey finished working on Ben’s lightsaber and handed it back to him. “Here, try this out.”

Ben stood up and ignited it. The blade was no longer a smooth beam of light, it was a fiery blue that crackled due to the cracked crystal. To balance it, Rey had to add two exhaust ports to the hilt giving the lightsaber a new cross guard design.

“Cool.” Luca breathed in awe. The blue glow of the saber reflected in his eyes.

“When do I get a lightsaber?” Hanna asked, equally in awe.

“You don’t.” Ben said, deactivating the blade. “The transport of kyber crystals is heavily controlled. You’re not getting your hands on one.” Hanna deflated slightly and pouted.

“I mean I’ve got -” Luke started to say.

“No, just no.” Ben interrupted his uncle.

Everyone sat in silence again. Luca crawled over to the med kit that they’d found when they first entered the ship.

“Everything hurts.” he moaned. “Does bacta work better if you drink it?”

“Don’t drink it. You’ll feel better when you’ve had a proper rest.” Rey said. She’d turned her attention to her own lightsabers cracked casing. Luckily the crystal was still intact, she just needed to make sure the whole thing wouldn’t fall apart in her hands.

“Take a couple of stims before we land so you’ll be ready to fight the droids when we get there.” Hanna said.

“Oh no, you are going to stay on the ship. I don’t want you fighting anybody.” Rey said.

“But we have to defend the innocent.” Hanna cried.

“Hanna, we’ve already lost you once today. If anything happens, we can’t bring you back again.” Ben said. He was serious when he was scared.

“You don’t need to worry about me, I have access to all your training, I know how to listen to the Force and call upon it. I’ll protect Luca, I promise.” Hanna pleaded. “Plus the fact, you’ve realised by now that we probably won’t stay put anyway.”

“Fine.” Rey sighed. She knew she should put up more resistance but her children were at that stage where they would do what they wanted regardless of what she said. “I suppose you know how to shut the droids down?”

“Of course.” Hanna said beaming. “The droids are fairly autonomous with only two manual override stations in case of emergencies. One in the First Order base, now destroyed, and one in the mobile command centre. Destroy that and the droids will deactivate.”

“Sounds easy enough.” said Ben.

“It’ll be behind their battle lines and more heavily fortified now that it’s sister location is no more.” Hanna seemed to be even more excited by the prospect. Ben squeezed the bridge of his nose. What were they going to do with Hanna now?


End file.
